


Alive

by ShuTodoroki



Category: Cars (Pixar Movies), Planes (Movies)
Genre: A lot of lines from the movie stay the same, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Backstory, Crying, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-20
Updated: 2020-12-03
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:49:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 27,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27643709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShuTodoroki/pseuds/ShuTodoroki
Summary: Nick's accident just leads to new skids, not his death. After the end of CHoPs, where will Blade and Nick go? "What if" scenario if Nick never died, yet they still end up at Piston Peak.
Relationships: Dusty Crophopper/Blade Ranger, Nick Loopin' Lopez/Blade Ranger, Nick Loopin' Lopez/Dusty Crophopper
Comments: 5
Kudos: 29





	1. That Not So Fateful Day

"Okay, Nick, you're gonna do your trademark loop to distract the criminal on the highway, while Blade uses his hoist to stop the criminal." The director, Rick Roadner, explained as both Nick and Blade looked at him while on the set for the 139th episode of CHoPs. 

"Got it! I'll do an extra one for the ladies." Nick said as he smirked. 

Blade rolled his eyes. Nick, always the charmer… "If you do an extra one, Nick, we'll have to reshoot the scene. You can show off afterwards." 

Nick pouted. "You're no fun, Blade."

Blade nudged him playfully with one of his landing gear tires. "Hey, I did say you can show off all you want later when we have a break." 

"When we have a break, eh?" Nick replied. "You can count on me doing more loops than you could ever do." 

"I can do exactly zero, Nick, so that statement holds no weight." Blade replied, chuckling a bit.

"I'll teach you someday." Nick asserted as he winked. 

"I know you will. C'mon, let's do this scene." Blade beckoned. 

"Whatever you say, Blazin' Blade." Nick replied, as they both took to the air in preparation for the scene. 

"3, 2, 1, action!" Rick called out as the cameras started rolling. 

The actor playing the criminal floored it on the stretch of highway, while Nick and Blade were in hot pursuit. Nick pitched up, starting his signature loop…until a sudden crosswind blew. The crosswind caused him to blow sideways, and his blades soon made a right angle with the ground, providing him no lift.

Nick started falling, fast. He managed to right himself mid air, and he tried to spin his blades faster to provide lift to break his fall. However, he still ended up crash landing on his skids, hitting the asphalt making up the highway. Thankfully, his skids took the brunt of the impact; they were heavily deformed, but the rest of his frame was intact.

Blade saw Nick crash ahead of him, and he immediately descended and landed to see if Nick was alright. He was initially afraid that it was serious, but Nick was still conscious, so it didn't look that serious. Still, he had to make sure. "Nick? Don't move, alright?" He looked at Rick and the film crew. "Call an ambulance."

Nick winced from the pain radiating from his broken skids. "I don't think I can move even if I wanted to, Blade. I'm gonna need new skids…"

Rick quickly called an ambulance, relaying information as to what happened to the emergency services.

"Anything else hurting?" Blade asked quickly, afraid that the damage might be worse than it looked. 

"Nope. Just the skids. I'm…relatively fine, considering what just happened." 

Blade sighed in relief. "Thank Chrysler. We're really just getting an ambulance since you can't move." 

"I know. Looking forward to eating that delicious hospital food." Nick said sarcastically as he tried to distract himself from the pain. 

Well, Nick was definitely alright if he was able to complain about that. "Just be thankful you even have food." 

Nick rolled his eyes as he winced in pain again. "I'd be in a better mood if the ambulance would arrive already so they can give me the laughing gas." 

Right. Nick was trying to hide the fact that he was probably suffering. "Rick, do they have an ETA for the ambulance?" 

"A few minutes." Rick replied. "Tell him to hang in there." 

"We're in the middle of downtown Los Angeles, and it's taking this long for an ambulance?" Blade scowled in annoyance.

"They're trying to get here as quickly as they can." Rick replied as he stayed on the line with emergency services.

"So much for teaching you how to do the loop afterwards." Nick muttered.

"Hey, you can teach me once you get your skids replaced. Just…please, do it at a higher altitude, so if something like that happens again you can recover."

"I definitely will. I've learned my lesson."

Blade finally heard the dull sound of a siren. "Great, they're finally here. I'll see you at the hospital, alright?" 

"See you there, partner." Nick said as the ambulance arrived, and he was loaded into it. It soon left for the nearest hospital, and Blade headed back over to where Rick and the film crew were. 

"C'mon, let's meet him at the hospital." Blade urged Rick as he gestured with a landing gear tire at the departing ambulance. 

The Escalade nodded in agreement as they set off for the hospital.

* * *

Blade was slightly anxious as he waited in the waiting room of the hospital for news. Nick seemed fine, but he wanted to hear it from the doctor to make sure that it was true. 

"Blade, are you alright?" Rick asked him. "Your rotors are quivering." 

Blade sighed as he looked at the director. "I'm worried about Nick. Aren't you?" 

"He seemed fine to you and me, right? I can't say that I'm all that worried. All he needs is new skids." Rick was pretty sure that's all that the helicopter needed. Nick's rotors and frame looked uninjured. 

"Yeah. He was definitely well enough to complain about the food here." Blade remembered. 

"Well, there's your answer. He's fine." Rick asserted. 

Blade gazed at a clock in the waiting room, impatient. "We've been here for a few hours. I hope the doctor comes out soon."

"I'm sure they will, if they're just replacing his skids." 

Sure enough, a few minutes later, a doctor came out of the doors leading to the wards, and approached the two of them. Blade visibly perked up when he saw the doctor. 

"Are you two Blade Ranger and Rick Roadner? I'm Dr. Stevenson." The doctor greeted.

"Yes, what's the news on Nick?" Rick asked quickly.

"We replaced his skids, and he's making a full recovery. He sustained no other injuries from the crash. He'll be discharged tomorrow morning." 

Blade was elated, his fears put to ease. It really was just the skids. "That's great! Can we see him?" 

"Yes, he's awake. Follow me." Dr. Stevenson headed towards the doors he came from, as Blade and Rick followed.

"I told you he'd be okay." Rick said with a smile as they passed by hospital room doors.

"Yeah, Nick's got new skids now. Maybe they're more durable." Blade thought aloud as they stopped at Nick's hospital room door. 

Dr. Stevenson pulled back the curtain and sliding door to Nick's room, as all three figures entered the room. 

Nick lit up when he saw Blade and Rick enter. "Blade! Rick! You came! I have brand new skids. Look!" 

Blade grinned. "We know. I'm jealous." 

Nick laughed. "You should get skids too, Blade. We could be skid pals. We already have matching paint jobs!"

Rick looked at the doctor, confused, while Blade got what was going on and laughed along with Nick.

"Sorry, he might still be a bit loopy from the drugs." Dr. Stevenson informed Rick. 

"I'm always loopy! I'm Nick Loopin' Lopez!" 

Dr. Stevenson chuckled as he moved to leave the room. "Right. I have to attend to another patient. Let me know if you need anything." 

"Of course." Rick said as the doctor left the room.

"A bit loopy. More like always loopy! Loops are my thing. Loops are what got me here, but they're still cool!" Nick rambled.

 _Oh dear. Nick's really out of it._ Rick thought, while Blade was amused by the situation.

"They definitely are. You're still gonna teach me how to do it, right?" Blade asked.

"Yeah! You and I are gonna loop de loop in every single episode. It'll be great!"

Blade looked at Rick expectantly, with a smirk. 

"Well, not _every_ episode…"

Nick pouted as he stuck his tongue out. "Party pooper. We're already at 139 episodes. Eleven non stop episodes of looping? Yes, please! 150's a nice number."

"Was 150 episodes when we were going to stop?" Blade asked Rick.

"Yeah, that was the plan. We're going to have a week long hiatus for Nick to recover, though."

"What's a hiatus?" Nick inquired. "Wait…never mind. I know what it is." 

"I don't think they put him on just laughing gas…" Rick remarked.

"He broke both of his skids. He probably got the stronger drugs." Blade speculated.

"I was on drugs? Am I going to get arrested? I'm a cop!"

Blade couldn't help but laugh. Nick was funny when he was sober, but when high as a kite on anesthesia, he was hilarious. "Nick, you're not going to get arrested. They were the legal kind."

"Okay, good. Because that'd be bad." 

"Are you okay with keeping Nick company? I have to go make preparations for fixing our filming location, now that Nick is okay." Rick stated.

"Yeah, go ahead. You'll be here when he's discharged, right?" Blade asked.

"You got it. See you later." Rick said as he turned around and left the hospital room.

Blade kept Nick company overnight, and slept on a sleeping mat provided in the room.

* * *

"I really was high on that stuff, huh?" Nick said as he, Blade, and Rick left the hospital after he was discharged.

"You definitely were…" Rick said.

"I haven't laughed so much in my whole life, I'll tell you that. You said that you were always loopy because you're Nick Loopin' Lopez." Blade recounted as he chuckled.

Nick rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up, Blade. It's really cool that these skids have tires, though." He said. He had four tires in total: one at the front, and one at the rear of each skid that he could extend for use on the ground, that were about the same size as Blade's landing gear tires.

"Makes it easier to travel on the ground, right?" 

"For sure." Nick agreed. He had "walked" on his skids before when he couldn't hover to travel. It wasn't the easiest.

“Glad you’re fully recovered, Nick. We’ll scrap the 139th episode we were filming and go with a new plot.” Rick informed the two helicopters.

“What? Why? It was a freak crosswind, and I’ll do it higher this time in case I mess it up.” Nick said.

“Nick, don’t you want to wait a bit before you try doing the loop again?” Blade asked, looking uneasy. “You just got released from the hospital. You should get used to your new skids before you try doing it again.”

Rick nodded in agreement. “We don’t want the same thing happening again to you.”

Nick sighed. He knew that they were right. He just didn’t like resting. He wanted to go back to what he did before, immediately. “Yeah, I get it. I guess I should take care of myself.”

“You guess? You should. When you crashed…I was really afraid that it was more than just the skids. You could’ve died from a fall like that. If it was more serious than just the skids, I couldn’t have done anything to help you.” Blade told Nick, saddened. He couldn’t bear the thought of what could’ve happened.

“I know things could’ve gone much worse than the way they did. But I’m okay now, right?” Nick stated, trying to make Blade feel better.

Blade didn’t find that very reassuring. “Yeah. Don’t scare me like that again, alright? I really care about you.” 

Nick smiled as he gazed at the Augusta Westland. “And I care about you.” He said as they approached the filming set.


	2. The Last Episode

"Good move, partner." Blade said with a smirk as they stood in front of a hot shot Ford GT40 with a parking boot. 

"Alright, cut!" Rick yelled out. "That's it, boys. We'll reshoot the scene after the lunch break, and then that's it. It's been great working with y'all."

"Same here, Rick." Nick agreed as he and Blade headed off set to take a break. 

"So, Nick. What're you thinking of doing after this?" Blade asked, curious as to if the Hughes had any plans for his acting career after CHoPs.

"To be honest, Blade, I never really thought about it. If you're planning on auditioning for another TV show, I'll do it with you. I like acting with you." 

Blade smiled. "I do too. Though I wasn't planning on acting anytime soon. 150 episodes is a long time; I was going to take a break from acting. Maybe, you know, get a job where I actually help people." 

"Huh? You want to take a break from acting?" Nick asked. He never knew Blade was planning such a thing.

"Yeah. You know, maybe actually save lives for once." Blade said.

"What prompted that?" 

"Well…it was you, Nick." Blade admitted.

Nick was confused as he stared at the Augusta Westland. "Me?"

Blade nodded. "Let me explain. Back when that freak crosswind caused you to break your skids, I realized that if things had gone south, I wouldn't have been able to do anything to help you."

Nick looked down at his skids in remembrance, and then back at Blade solemnly. "Blade, you already helped me a lot in that moment by being by my side. You were there for me."

Blade sighed. "I can't help but want to be able to do more, though. Pretending to save lives isn't the same thing as actually doing so."

"So you want to be an actual police officer?" Nick inquired, assuming that's what Blade meant.

Blade shook his head. "No, though that'd be very convenient, wouldn't it?"

"Hey." Nick stopped as he looked at an advertisement. It was a red and white four engined plane spraying fire retardant, with mountains in the background. "The only fire firefighters don't extinguish is the fire in them." He read the caption aloud. "Piston Peak. I've heard about that place. It's the national park in the Sierra Nevada." 

"Huh." Blade remarked as he looked at the poster with Nick. Firefighting did sound appealing from the visual provided by the poster. "That sounds promising. You up for it?"

Nick smirked. "Sounds like an interesting change from show biz. I'm game." 

"We'll have to apply to a fire academy and get certified, though." Blade pointed out. It'd definitely be a lot of hard work for the both of them.

"Going back to school is no problemo. Well, might be a small problemo, but we'll suffer together, right?" Nick nudged Blade with a skid as he looked at him expectantly.

Blade rolled his eyes. "Right. C'mon, let's head back so we can reshoot that scene." 

The two helicopters head back to the set, now looking forward to whatever was ahead of them in their path to becoming firefighters.

* * *

"Blade, I haven't used this stuff since high school." Nick complained as he looked over a study guide for the written exam included in the application process to the Los Angeles Fire Academy. 

They were huddled together in Blade's apartment, stripped of their California Highway Patrol decals, leaving the blue and white paint scheme. They still looked vaguely like cops, though.

"Believe me, I haven't either…" Blade replied as he looked up tips and tricks for the exam in another book. They had already filled out their applications and were accepted; they just needed to take the written exam.

Nick frowned. "Why do they have math on here? Do firefighters even need math?"

"I don't know, Nick, but it's on there, and we have to deal with it." Blade replied.

"At least we have a calculator…" 

That was definitely a relief. "Yeah. Small mercies, right?" 

"They don't even have anything related to fire safety on here, though. Like how to extinguish a fire." Nick said as he gazed up at Blade from the book. Why would a test for a fire academy have no questions about fire safety?

"That's because they'll be teaching us about that if we get into the academy." Blade explained. "At least I think that's how it works."

"Oh." Nick replied as he looked back down at the study guide. He really felt like he was back in high school, and not in a good way. He hoped that all of this work would amount to something. "You know, I really hope that we get into this academy. We haven't been working our tails off for nothing."

"Yeah, me too." Blade agreed.

* * *

Blade's mouth was agape as he stared at his acceptance letter into the Los Angeles Fire Academy. He had actually made it. He was going to become a firefighter. He was about to call when the phone rang. He immediately picked up by pressing down on the pedal with his front landing gear when he saw that it was Nick.

"Blade! Blade! Guess what?" Nick said excitedly.

Blade laughed. "Let me guess. You got an acceptance letter too?"

"Yes! Did you?" Nick asked in return. "I'd show you my acceptance letter if I could."

Blade grinned. "Yes, I did. We're gonna become firefighters together." 

Nick couldn't contain his excitement. "I wonder what the admissions folks thought when they realized that _the_ Blazin' Blade Ranger and Nick Loopin' Lopez were applying to their school." 

"I don't know, but we must've had pretty stellar applications for them to accept us." Blade remarked. 

"Yeah we did! Blew the other applications out of the water." 

"Or they accepted us to see if show biz helicopters will survive the fire academy training." Blade speculated. He sure hoped that wasn't the case.

"Nah. They wouldn't do that. Firefighters save lives, right? They'd only accept those that are qualified." Nick stated. 

"Yeah, you're probably right. We start tomorrow morning." Blade informed Nick.

"I saw that in the letter. I'll meet you there?" Nick confirmed.

"Yep! I'll see you there. Get ready for a long road to our certification, though. Now that we're in this, we can't back out." Blade warned.

Nick sighed. He knew becoming a firefighter wasn't easy. That was good, though; this was saving lives that they were talking about. It shouldn't be easy. "I wasn't expecting it to be easy, anyway. We got each other though, right?" 

Blade nodded. "Yep. See you tomorrow." 

"See you." Nick said as he hung up.

Blade smiled as he read the rest of his acceptance letter. He had no idea as to how hard the fire academy training would be, but he had a feeling that it would be worth it in the end.


	3. Back To School

“Never in my career as a firefighter and instructor, did I think that the stars from CHoPs would be enrolled in my fire academy, trying to get certified to be firefighters.” Mayday addressed the two helicopters as he looked at them.

The fire academy had separate classes for planes and helicopters, and Blade and Nick turned out to be either the only two helicopters that made it, or the only two that applied this semester. 

“Well, surprise!” Blade said as he laughed nervously. He could already tell from the stern expression on the fire engine’s face that this wouldn’t be an easy three months. 

Nick's excitement seemed to melt away slightly as well, when he realized how much they'd have to learn. Firefighting was probably a very complex job. "We want to save lives for real, instead of pretending." He explained.

"Glad you feel that way, because fires act a lot differently than the fires they simulate on set. Saving lives is a more delicate matter as well." Mayday explained. 

"Of course." Blade didn't expect the scenes he shot of saving cars and planes to be realistic, by any means.

"It's TV. It's gonna be different. But we can adapt to anything you throw at us." Nick asserted with confidence. 

Mayday frowned at Nick in response. "Overconfidence is the kind of attitude that can get you killed." He remarked disapprovingly.

"Oh. Sorry." Nick apologized. He didn't want to sound cocky; he just wanted to sound motivated. Guess it came across the wrong way.

"Well, since you two seem eager, we should start." Mayday said as he took out a blackboard to start the classroom portion of training.

* * *

"When you're called to the scene, you need to fly low to have the best visibility of the fire. Flying high, the smoke will obscure your vision. Understand?" Mayday asked the two.

"Yes." Both helicopters replied swiftly.

"Great. When dropping water, timing and altitude is key. Too low, not enough area is covered. Too high, the retardant is too spread out. Too early or too late, and you're spraying the cars down below on the streets instead of the actual fire. We use the acronym HELL. High, Early, Late, Low. They will make trying to put out a fire hell." 

"Got it." Blade replied, but there was no response from Nick. He looked over, and Nick looked to be daydreaming as he stared off into space. He nudged one of Nick's skids.

Nick immediately paid attention again. "Right!" Even though he had only gotten the beginning part of what Mayday had said. 

Blade rolled his eyes. Yes, the classroom environment was boring, but this information was important. After the classroom portion, they'd actually practice on real fires for their live fire training. They needed to learn how to fight a fire before trying to do it. 

"Firefighters need to be out of the firehouse in less than two minutes after the report of a fire. You need to be quick in loading up water into your drop tank."

"Will we be fitted with those?" Nick asked. 

"Yes. After the classroom portion." Mayday replied, as he moved on to another topic. "So, you two are familiar with saving cars from burning buildings, right?" 

"I wouldn't consider doing that on a filming set where there are contingency plans if things go wrong as experience." Blade replied. He had a feeling that this was a trick question. 

"You are right. Using your hoist every time won't cut it." Mayday stated.

"Wait, what?" But wasn't the hoist the easiest way to get cars out? "What do you mean?" Blade asked.

"If you miss, and the building is unstable, you could hit a supporting structure. The whole building will collapse." Mayday explained. 

Nick was confused. If Blade couldn't use his hoist, and cars were trapped, what would they do? "So how would we save them?"

"First and foremost, the fire is your priority. Extinguishing the fire saves the cars. Be a hero in the right way." Mayday answered.

This went on for the next few hours, as Mayday went over the mechanics and technical aspects of firefighting, until Blade and Nick finally left the fire academy. Both of them looked quite exhausted. 

Nick groaned. "That was an info dump. I don't know if I retained even half of what Mayday said."

Blade had to agree with what Nick said. It was definitely a lot of information in one sitting. "What we learned will be enforced when we get to the live fire training stage, though. It'll be more engaging." 

“I sure hope so.” Nick replied. “I’m sorry, Blade, but there’s a reason I went into acting. School bored me to death.”

Blade sighed. “You think I didn’t think it was boring either? If we want to do this, though, we have to think of the reward afterwards.” 

“That reward better be worth it. I’m gonna need to start drinking coffee again in the morning…” He’d definitely end up falling asleep, otherwise, and he definitely didn’t want to do that.

“We’re in the same boat on that one, Nick.” Blade agreed.

* * *

Eventually, Blade and Nick completed the classroom portion of the class, and had managed to retain much of the mechanics and technical aspects of firefighting, so that they could move on to live fire training. They had both gotten drop tanks installed, and they were still getting used to them.

Blade and Nick watched as an old house that was set for demolition was purposefully set ablaze for the live fire training. 

“Alright Nick, you’re first. Remember. HELL.” Mayday told Nick.

“Right. Too high, early, late, low will make fighting fires hell.” Nick recalled as he took off, remembering to fly low to have the best visibility of the fire. 

He dropped about half of his tank on the fire as he tried to time it right, but some of the water landed on the grass surrounding the house, not fully putting the fire out.

“Too early! Go around and try again with the other half of your tank.” Mayday ordered.

Nick sighed as he turned around. He had to get it right this time. He approached the burning house once again, and dropped the other half of his tank when he thought it was the right moment. Some water now landed on the other side of the house. 

Mayday frowned. “Too late. You overcompensated.”

Nick landed as he looked discouraged. He hoped that he would get better as they continued the live fire training.

“Hey, you got most of the fire out, Nick. That’s great.” Blade encouraged the Hughes.

Nick smiled at Blade. “Thanks, Blade. You’ll do great.” 

“I hope you’re right.” Blade said with a nervous chuckle as they waited for the fire to strengthen again.

Once it did, Mayday motioned for Blade to go. “Alright, Blade. Your turn.”

Blade nodded as he took off, flying low as well, below the smoke. He dropped half of his tank, and thought that he had perfect timing as no water landed on either side of the burning house.

“Too low. You only extinguished half of the roof. Go around and finish the job.” Mayday commanded.

Blade nodded as he turned around. He didn’t expect to get it right the first time, though he was still a bit disappointed that he didn’t get it right. He successfully extinguished the other half of the fire the second time, and landed next to Nick. 

“For first timers, that wasn’t bad.” Mayday told the two.

“Wait, really?” Nick asked, surprised. He thought that they didn’t do so well.

“Well, some totally miss the fire, so I consider that a strong start. Now, let’s move on to the barrels.”

They managed to perform better with the barrels as they got more practice dropping water on fires, and breathed a sigh of relief when they finished their first day of live fire training.

“I thought that I blew it today, but Mayday seemed pretty happy with us.” Nick remarked.

Blade nodded in agreement. “Yeah. I think I’m finally getting used to the drop tank.”

“I feel heavier with it, definitely, especially when it’s full of water. You have to compensate when flying.” 

Blade chuckled. “I’m gonna blame that for when we missed the fire when dropping water.” 

Nick laughed along with Blade. “We’re halfway done, right?”

Blade nodded. “Yep. Exciting, huh?”

“Well, doing it for real is _way_ more interesting than learning about it, that’s for sure.” Nick stated.

“It sure is. You know, we’re gonna graduate in six weeks.” Blade told Nick.

“I know. You think we have to buy our own cap?” Nick asked.

Blade deadpanned. “It’s not a high school graduation, Nick. We just get certified.” 

“Oh.” Nick laughed in embarrassment. “Then after that we head to Piston Peak?” 

“Yeah, I think we can get stationed anywhere if we’re certified firefighters.” Blade said.

“Sounds like a plan.”

* * *

After weeks of live fire training, Blade and Nick finally made it, and they stood proudly in front of Mayday. “You two are now officially certified firefighters. Congratulations.” Mayday said with a light smile.

Blade grinned at Nick as he high fived him with his landing gear, bumping Nick’s skid. 

Nick smiled back. They actually did it. All of that work was worth the reward in the end, as Blade said.

“You two will do great at the LAFD. I can ring them and station you there.” Mayday moved to go call them when Blade quickly spoke.

“Actually, Mayday, we wanted to work at Piston Peak. The national park in the Sierra Nevada?”

Mayday stopped in his tracks, and turned around to look at the two former TV stars, concerned. “You two want to be stationed at Piston Peak?” 

Blade was worried that something was wrong with what he said, judging by how Mayday responded. Nick seemed to share the same sentiments, as he looked at Blade with a hesitant expression, then back at Mayday.

“What’s wrong with Piston Peak?” Nick asked.

“Oh, there’s nothing wrong with the place. It’s beautiful. It’s just that they have a very busy fire season, and the terrain is challenging. It’s not the place to be when you’ve been newly certified.” Mayday explained.

Blade looked a bit disappointed. “Oh. So they’re not taking new recruits?”

“No, they are!” Mayday clarified. “They definitely need the help. It’s just that many shy away from the place because you deal with wildfires. They’re more unpredictable than the urban fires you practiced with. It’s a real challenge.” 

“Well, I never shy away from a good challenge.” Nick stated. “If they need the help, we’ll be there to help them. If we need additional training, one of the firefighters there can help us, right?”

Mayday nodded. “Definitely. It’s rained there quite frequently recently, so they won’t be too busy. Excuse me while I let them know.” The fire engine drove off into another room in the firehouse to radio Piston Peak.

Blade now looked unsure of himself because of what Mayday said. “If many new firefighters shy away from the place, shouldn’t we?” He asked Nick.

“Hey. We’ve been a team for the longest time. We can handle anything, right? Besides, it’s probably just some extra training. We’ve got the basics; adding on to it shouldn’t be hard.” 

“I guess you’re right. The firefighters there must be very experienced.” Blade mused.

Nick nodded. “Exactly. If we need help, they’ll help us.”

At that moment, Mayday came back. “Alright. It’s about an hour and a half away. When you two get to Piston Peak Air Attack, you’re going to look for Red Streak.”

“Red Streak.” Blade repeated, to help himself remember the name.

“You got it. He’s the Chief of Fire and Rescue there. He can teach you two anything you need to know that I haven’t taught you.” 

“Alright. Thanks for teaching and certifying us, Mayday. We’ll keep in touch.” Nick said.

Mayday smiled. “No problem. Good luck out there.”

Blade and Nick took off, heading to Piston Peak National Park.


	4. Arrival in Piston Peak

Blade rolled his eyes as Nick did loops in the air on their way to Piston Peak. “Nick, who are you trying to impress? Me?” 

“Hey! I gotta keep it fresh in my mind. You never know when it could come in handy.” It was a valid point, right?

Blade raised an eyebrow. “And when would it come in handy?”

“Uh…stunt shows?” Nick suggested sheepishly. That was the only thing he could think of, off the top of his head.

“Right, because firefighters do stunt shows.” Blade replied sarcastically as he started to see the mountain peaks of the Sierra Nevada. That meant that they were nearing where Piston Peak was.

Nick pouted. “Well, Piston Peak is a touristy place, right? How do you know that they don’t show off to the tourists? When they’re not fighting fires?”

“Because the Air Attack Base is pretty isolated from where the tourists are. Most of them are at the Grand Fusel Lodge. If they showed off for tourists, wouldn't it be closer to the lodge?”

“I guess you got me there." Nick conceded. "You know, I’m glad that you know where to go, though, because these mountains are endless.” The Hughes looked around at the various mountains and valleys underneath. It was definitely nice to have time to appreciate nature when they were in urban Los Angeles for CHoPs. 

“Piston Peak is in a pretty large valley. It shouldn’t be hard to find amidst the mountains.” Blade soon saw a road heading into a valley, and a railroad track leading from the valley to the nearest town. “I think we’ve arrived.” He said as he descended.

Nick followed Blade’s lead, and could see the scenery better, now that they were nearer to the ground. “Wow. I see why they made this place a national park.” He thought aloud as they passed over V6 Valley, and the Grand Fusel Lodge. 

“Yeah. It’s really beautiful.” Blade agreed as they continued flying straight ahead, soon seeing Anchor Lake, at which they turned left. The Air Attack Base came into view shortly after, situated on top of a rock ledge.

Blade landed first on the helipad, and Nick landed soon after. They looked around as the base seemed quite quiet, that is until they heard the soft drone of music from the control tower, in which a red forklift cleaned one of the windows. 

A gray and purple forklift mechanic was working in one of the hangars, mixing up what looked to be fire retardant, while an ex-military gray, black, and red transport plane was listening to a ham radio. A group of ATVs seemed to be practicing on various rock formations nearby the runway by jumping between them.

“Is this the place?” Nick whispered to Blade. 

“I think so.” Blade replied as he decided to approach the gray and purple forklift, since he seemed to be done with the retardant. “Um, hi. Is this Piston Peak Air Attack?”

The forklift looked up from the container filled with retardant, and lit up when he saw Blade, and Nick rolling up from behind Blade. “Well if it ain’t Blazin’ Blade Ranger and Nick Loopin’ Lopez! What are the choppies of CHoPs doing here?” 

Really? The show was still relevant after how many months now? Blade had no time to respond when he heard and saw the group of ATVs and ex-military transport plane from earlier coming over. “Your show was the best!” One of the ATVs, who looked like the leader of the group, exclaimed.

Nick smirked as he nudged Blade with a skid. “Looks like we have fans.” 

Blade rolled his eyes. Sure, CHoPs was a time of his and Nick’s life that was great and all, but firefighting was a new start for him. He didn’t need it mentioned every time he met someone new here. “Thank you, really, but we’re not here for that. Nick and I are certified firefighters, and Mayday should’ve radioed letting you all know we’re stationed here?” 

“You two are the newbies Mayday radioed about?” The transport plane asked.

“Yes, we are. Are you Red Streak?” Blade asked.

“Oh, uh, no. I’m Cabbie. Nice to meet you.” 

“Red Streak’s probably in his hangar. I’ll go fetch him for y’all.” Maru said as he drove away to one of the hangars. 

“Well, introductions are probably in order. I’m Dynamite.” The leader of the ATVs introduced herself. “This is Blackout, Pinecone, Avalanche-” She was interrupted when Avalanche yelled out a “Hello!”. “And this is Drip.” 

“Nice to meet you all.” Nick greeted, just as Maru returned with Red Streak, a plane identical to the one in the advertisement Blade and Nick had seen. “Hey, you were in that firefighter advertisement!” 

“Heh, so that photo did have some use.” Red remarked as he approached the two. “Mayday said that you two were certified already.”

Blade nodded. “Yes, we are, though he warned that because we only know the basics, it’s not specialized for fighting wildfires.”

“He was right.” Red stated as he looked the two helicopters over. “Hm…”

“Is something wrong?” Nick asked, becoming concerned due to the fact that the chief was staring at them for a prolonged period of time.

“I don’t know you two from whatever TV show Maru was talking about, but you two look like cops, and your drop tank is the wrong kind.”

“Wait, what?” Blade asked as he looked at Nick. Well, the blue and white color scheme did make them look like cops still, yes, but what did he mean by the wrong kind of drop tank?

“We use not just water, but fire retardant here. You’ll need a segmented drop tank for both. Also, you two need Piston Peak decals and a recognizable color scheme.” Red explained as he gazed in the direction of Maru’s hangar. “Maru!” He called.

“What?” Maru asked as he stopped pushing the container of retardant to storage.

“Replace their drop tanks and give ‘em a new coat of paint.” Red ordered. 

Maru smirked as he gestured with a forklift arm into his hangar.


	5. Here Comes Cad

Blade winced as sparks flew from his undercarriage, as Maru did the finishing touches on his new segmented drop tank. Nick was already done, so he was watching Blade getting worked on. “So the front compartment is for water, the back is for retardant?” Blade asked.

“You got it!” Maru said as he flipped up his welding visor. “Water’s at the front so you can scoop.”

“Scoop?” Blade inquired.

“From the lake. Red’ll teach you and Nick all you need to know. They’re old, but they should work just fine for scooping and dropping and all that good stuff.” Maru said as he backed away from Blade once he was done. 

“Old?” Nick asked. “Are they _really_ old?”

Maru laughed. “Ha! Not old enough to be a lost cause. We don’t know the meaning of ‘new’ around here, so it’s my philosophy to make everything better than new. At least old paint doesn’t matter as much. Tell me what y’all think!”

Blade looked at Nick, and saw that the black portion of the paint job stayed the same, but there was a red portion covering the top half, covering the blue livery that was there, while the white portion remained for the bottom half. “Piston Peak” was inscribed on the tail.

“So, how do I look in red? Red hot?” Nick asked with a smirk.

“You look great. The red definitely makes you look like a firefighter. What about me?” Blade asked.

Blade’s paint job was identical, save for a different tail number. “You look great as well, Blade.” Nick answered. “You did a great job, Maru!”

“I always do!” Maru replied as he went to go tidy up a part of his hangar, which looked constantly cluttered.

Something caught Blade’s eye as he looked at a wall full of pictures of other aircraft. “Hey, is this a wall of fame?” 

“Looks like it.” Nick remarked as he gazed at the picture wall with Blade.

“Yep. That’s our wall of fame. Known just as ‘the wall’ around here, though.” Maru replied.

“Did these aircraft retire?” Blade asked, assuming that’s why their pictures were up here.

Maru halted what he was doing, taking a while before he responded. “In a way, yes.”

Blade and Nick weren’t sure what to make of that. “In a way? What do you mean?” Nick asked.

“They crashed.” Maru stated.

There was a long silence as Blade and Nick took in what Maru said. They were solemn as they realized that these were fallen firefighters that they were looking at. 

“Yep. Now you know. Being a firefighter’s one heck of a job. You risk your lives for people you don’t even know. When others fly out, you fly in. You have to have what it takes.” 

It was a sobering moment for Blade and Nick in the midst of their jubilation of becoming certified. They stared at the two aircraft that were on the wall.

“Snowball and McLeod were their names.” Red said from behind Blade and Nick, causing them to turn around to look at him. 

"I'm sorry. I didn't know." Blade said solemnly. 

"It's alright. That's why we have the wall. To honor their memory." There was another pause as it was a sort of moment of silence in respect. 

"Anyway, you two look ready for firefighting. We can start bringing you up to speed tomorrow." 

Nick nodded. "Alright. By the way, which hangars can we stay in?" 

"Ah, sorry, but we only have one hangar left open. You two will have to share. We have space for more, but we don't have the budget." Red explained.

Blade was shocked. "I thought the National Park Service funds you all. I mean, y'all are essential to the park." 

"You would think that holds true to them." Maru remarked from his work. "But _someone's_ to blame for why we have nothing new." 

Nick raised an eyebrow. "And who would that be?" 

Suddenly, a voice came on through the PA system. "All aircraft, be advised. Superintendent Spinner has entered the base. I repeat, Superintendent Spinner has entered the base." Patch warned.

"That's who's to blame." Maru said disdainfully. 

Red rolled his eyes as he faced in the direction the park superintendent was coming.

"Honk honk, beep beep! Superintendent Cad Spinner coming through. You all gonna greet me? Yes you are! I sign your paychecks, you know." 

Blade and Nick immediately noticed the resemblance to their former director, Rick Roadner, due to Cad being an Escalade. 

"Kind of reminds you of Rick, huh?" Nick whispered to Blade.

"Yeah…" Blade replied as Red glared at Cad.

"What do you want, Cad?" 

"Hey, it's hard to get here already! No need to make my job harder. These tires are made for hardwood floors, not dirt. Anyway, some sad campers in the lodge complained that two helicopters flew too low and created noise pollution. If those were your new firefighters or whatever that you were talking about, tell 'em to take it higher next time."

"Alright, Cad, fine. Now-" Red was interrupted as Cad saw Blade and Nick coming out from behind him.

"Hold on. Are you kidding me?" Cad exclaimed as he approached Blade and Nick. "You got the biggest TV stars in America right here in Piston Peak! How'd you do it?" 

"They're here to train, not to entertain your guests." Red asserted, looking at Cad sternly.

"Rednose, you take yourself too seriously. You got yourself Blazin' Blade Ranger and Nick Loopin' Lopez! I mean, come on!" 

Red deadpanned. "My name is Red Streak, and they're certified firefighters." 

"Whatever. Rednose is easier to remember. Because you have a red nose." Cad turned to Blade and Nick, grinning. "How'd you two like to be in a new commercial for my lodge? Of course, we'd have to bring back that good ol' cop uniform because I did not recognize you two for a second there!" 

"Asking us if we want to be in a commercial as the first thing you say to us is kind of rude." Nick said as he glared at Cad.

"Not only that, but like Red here said, we're here to fight fires. The fact that we were on a show called CHoPs is irrelevant." Blade stated.

"Irrelevant my bumper! Superstars right here in Piston Peak, and you're letting it go to waste, Rednose."

Red was not going to let that fly. "Considering that you're sucking our budget so that our aging facilities are unable to be replaced, I'm not sure why I should be doing you any favors." 

"Because the lodge is the centerpiece of everything! Tourists come for the lodge. The flora and fauna is an added bonus. We've had higher revenue to maintain the park or whatever ever since I came along. Besides, you guys have been doing fine with the wildfires. And get this; we're gonna start a lodge restoration project in several years. How exciting is that?" 

No one looked excited at all as there was a telling silence. 

Cad huffed as he moved to drive away, back to his lodge. "Alright, alright, I get it. Don't ask for invitations to the next party I host at the lodge. It'll be great! Goodbye, fellow forest friends!" 

"And good riddance." Red muttered under his breath as Cad was soon out of sight.

"Why does the Park Service keep him around if he's such a terrible park superintendent?" Nick asked. It made no sense.

"As he said, there's been more revenue due to the lodge. Thus, they think more revenue means more money to maintain the park." Red explained.

"That's awful. If we end up not being able to fight wildfires at some point with the aging equipment, what's the point of maintaining the park?" Blade questioned.

"You're wiser than they are." Red told Blade. 

"They do sometimes replace necessary things. We just got a new set of pontoons for single engine air tankers." Maru admitted. "That's how we manage to function." 

Red looked at both Blade and Nick. "By managing to function we can train you two."

"Thank you. I know we'll learn a lot from you." Nick thanked Red.

"No problem. Make yourselves at home in the spare hangar." Red then rolled off to his own hangar, as the sun set.

"Wow, it's already the end of the day." Nick remarked as they headed off to the spare hangar. 

Blade didn't respond as he seemed lost in his thoughts. 

Nick frowned as he stopped. "Hey, Blade. Earth to Blade." He nudged the Augusta Westland with one of his skids to snap him out of his thoughts. It worked.

"Oh, sorry, Nick." Blade apologized as he looked solemn.

"What were you thinking about?" Nick asked Blade. 

"I still can't believe that Cad Spinner is the park superintendent. Maybe that's why newbies avoid this place." 

Nick shook his head. "Nah. Mayday said it was because of the active fire season. But yeah, I get your point." He nudged one of the doors to the hangar open with one of his skids. The interior looked pretty plain, but it had two sleeping mats already in there. All you could ever need. 

"So, sharing a hangar, huh? I hope you don't snore." Nick said to Blade.

"I hope _you_ don't snore." Blade retorted. 

"Me? Never." 

Blade shut the doors. "Right. Be warned, though. If you snore, I will not hesitate to kick you with my landing gear." 

Nick chuckled. "Is that a threat?" 

"Yes, it is." 

"I'm very scared."

"You should be." 

"Well, I won't snore. Guaranteed." Nick promised.

Blade smirked. "I'll take your word for it, then."

The two helicopters hoped that whatever else they had to learn tomorrow, they'd learn quickly, and that they'd be able to do what they had trained for the past several months: fight fires, and save lives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first image is Red Streak. The second image is Snowball. The third image is McLeod.  
>   
>   
> 


	6. Back To School, Again

True to his word, Nick did not snore, and Blade didn't snore either, as they woke up next morning in the hangar. 

"Did Red give a time that we should be out?" Nick asked as he yawned.

"No, though we should probably give a good first impression by being out early." Blade answered as he moved to open the hangar doors.

"Yeah, you're right." Nick agreed as both helicopters drove around, looking for Red Streak. 

They didn't have to look far, as they saw Red Streak outside his hangar. He looked like he had been waiting for the two. 

"Sorry, did we keep you waiting?" Blade asked, concerned.

"Not at all. Follow me." Red directed as he drove over to Maru's hangar. "Maru!" 

"What?" The forklift replied as he rummaged through some supplies in his workshop.

"Fill 'em up with retardant. Their training starts today." Red ordered.

"Only retardant?" Maru replied as he hooked up two hoses for the two choppers from a retardant container.

"Yes. They'll be scooping as well." 

Maru got to work, attaching the hoses to Blade and Nick's fire retardant tanks. "Good luck."

"Um…should I be worried?" Nick asked hesitantly.

Maru grinned, showing off his missing tooth. "Maybe. Should you?"

"Maru…" Red admonished. "Scooping isn't that hard when you get the hang of it. Trust me."

Both of their tanks were soon filled with fire retardant, and Maru disconnected the hoses and closed the caps. "Good to go!" 

"Great, thanks." Red thanked as he headed towards the runway. "I'll meet you both at Anchor Lake." 

"Got it." Blade replied as he and Nick headed to the helipad. He took off first as Red took to the skies, and Nick followed suit. 

"Takes a little more power to take off when you have a tank full of retardant…" Nick remarked as he followed Blade.

"Of course. You become heavier, so it'll take more energy to take off." Blade reasoned. 

Nick laughed. "Maybe I wouldn't feel so sluggish if I hadn't just woken up."

"Believe me, I'm tired too. We now know Red is an early riser, though, so we should adjust accordingly." Blade soon saw the sunlight shimmering off of the surface of Anchor Lake. "And we're here." 

They arrived just as Red came to a stop after landing by the lake. They landed next to each other, facing Red on the grass surrounding the lake. 

"Alright, Blade, you're up first. You gotta extend your scoops and approach the water, grazing the surface as you fly forward. Too high, you're not going to get enough water. Too low, you're going to crash. You have 12 to 15 seconds to scoop, and 50 feet to climb out." 

Well, Blade would certainly rather take the former than the latter. "Alright…" Blade took off and extended the scoops on his water tank. He descended as he approached the lake surface.

Nick watched anxiously. The risk of crashing worried him, and he hoped that wouldn't happen to Blade. He knew what it was like, and it wasn't pretty.

Blade grazed the surface of the water as he left a wake behind him, and he pulled up after what he thought was 12 seconds, because he didn't want to risk another 3 seconds on the first try. He let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding as he climbed away from the lake, returning to where Red and Nick were. 

"You were a bit too high, and that wasn't 12 seconds. Try again. Empty your water tank over the lake." 

Blade nodded as he took off again, dropping the water over the lake to empty his water tank before he tried to scoop again. He angled down a bit this time to submerge more of his scoops in the water, and he pulled up after a bit more time had passed. 

"Better." Red remarked as Blade landed. "Nick, you'll be collecting water differently." 

"Huh?" Nick asked. He had been studying what Blade was doing. Guess it wasn't going to get put to good use.

"Well, you can't exactly scoop with those skids. They'd drag in the water." Red explained. 

Nick looked down at his skids. "Oh. Then how am I supposed to collect water?" 

"You hover over the lake, and the water tank has a pump that will pump water into the tank. Blade, you have this too. The downside is that it takes longer." 

"How much longer?" Nick inquired. It was definitely safer than scooping.

"It takes 20 seconds, but every second counts when it comes to wildfires." Red responded.

Nick nodded as he took off, turning around to approach the lake. He hovered over the lake surface as his skids submerged in the water, and he pumped water into his tank. He took off after 20 seconds, and returned to where Blade and Red were. 

"Good. That one is hard to mess up." Red remarked. "Now, you both need to know the most important difference between water and fire retardant. You can always refill your water tank, but what you have in the retardant tank is what you have. You have to head back to base to refill on fire retardant, so use it wisely." 

Both Blade and Nick nodded in acknowledgement. 

"Water is used for directly extinguishing fires, while fire retardant is used to impede the spread of the fire. Simply put, water is dropped directly on the fire. Fire retardant is dropped ahead of the fire, or dropped in a way to 'box in' the fire. We'll talk about what 'boxing in' is later, but let's take off. We're going to check for spot fires." 

"Spot fires?" Blade asked.

"New fires that have started. You want to stop wildfires before they grow." Red explained as he moved to take off. 

Blade and Nick took off, and met up with Red in the skies of Piston Peak. "Alright. This is common sense, but look for any signs of smoke. But don't instinctively drop water on any smoke that you see, because they could be campfires set up by campers." 

"How can we tell the difference?" Nick asked. 

"You have to look. The camping locations are cleared of trees for that reason: so we have visibility to check if it's an attended fire." Red spotted smoke coming up from the forest. "There we go. Let's check it out." 

They neared the source of the smoke. Turns out, it was an actual wildfire.There were no campers in sight. It wasn't large yet, but it definitely would not be put out by one flyover of water. "Alright. Let's see what your firefighter training taught you, since you know how to extinguish fires already from Mayday." Red told the two helicopters.

Blade and Nick nodded as Nick dropped water right over the fire, and Blade followed suit, successfully extinguishing the fire.

"Nice work. Wildfires are more complex than the ones you practiced with, but you two handled that nicely." Red complimented.

"Mayday did say that they were unpredictable…" Nick recalled.

"When they are bigger, they are, yes. That's why it's important to keep them contained using fire retardant."

"Is that what you were referring to when you said fire retardant is used to 'box in' a wildfire?" Blade asked. 

"Yes, that's what 'boxing in' means. But we'll save that for tomorrow, along with other things. Let's head back to base." Red said as he turned around to head back to the Air Attack Base, and the two choppers followed.

* * *

“You’re lucky. You get to fill your tank the easy way.” Blade remarked as he and Nick rested in their shared hangar. 

“Yeah, but it takes longer. There’s always a trade off.” Nick pointed out.

“True.” Blade replied. 

“You know, Blade, I was really scared watching you try and scoop water for the first time off of the lake. Especially since Red mentioned that you’d crash if you did it too low.” 

Blade sighed as he looked at Nick. “I was too. That’s why I ended up doing it too high. You heard what Maru said, though. It’s always gonna be a risk when we’re saving lives.”

“I know. What he said was…sobering, to say the least.”

“Well, when we get more experienced, it’ll become second nature to us. That’s what Red said.” Blade reassured Nick.

Nick was still unsure of that. “I hope he’s right.”

“Hey, you do your trademark loop all the time. It’s the same kind of risk. Think of it that way.”

Nick looked at the Augusta Westland. “It’s not the same, Blade. I’ve done that loop for as long as I can remember. This is _you_ we’re talking about.” 

Blade was silent for a bit as he took in what Nick said. “I’m already getting better at scooping water, Nick. I’ll be fine. Besides, we’ve been there for each other for the longest time. Whatever risk there is, we’ll overcome it together.”

Nick visibly perked up as he smiled. “Thanks, Blade.”

Blade smiled back. “Anytime.”

* * *

A week later, Blade and Nick had learned the rest of the additional information they needed to know for fighting wildfires: using fire retardant correctly, how wind, temperature and humidity affected the rate of spread, and different methods of attacking a fire. Also, the most important rule: no flying 30 minutes after sunset. 

Everyone gathered around as Blade, Nick, and Red returned to base from their training.

“So? How’d they do?” Dynamite inquired as Red pulled up next to the two choppers. 

“They did great. Actually, I think they’re qualified enough to now fight wildfires with us.” Red smiled as he turned to look at Blade and Nick. “You two will fit right in at Piston Peak.”

Everyone cheered as the two helicopters beamed. 

Nick high-fived Blade with a skid, bumping one of his landing gear tires. “We did it, Blade.”

Blade smiled at his partner. After all this time, they had, indeed, done it.

“Finally! It’s a good thing that we now have two new members of the team, because fire season is starting soon.” Maru stated.

“How bad is the fire season?” Blade inquired.

“Pretty bad, if I’m not mincing words, but if Red here thinks you two are ready, it’s nothing to worry about. Really.” Maru replied.

“Besides, we have each other, right?” Nick said as he looked at Blade.

Blade nodded as he grinned. “Right.”


	7. Picture On The Wall

A year and a half passed, as Blade and Nick, along with the rest of the Piston Peak Air Attack team, fought fire after fire during the busy fire season. Obviously, Maru wasn’t kidding, but the two helicopters got used to the rigor of the job, and they kept themselves vigilant as the next fire season was upon them. 

Currently, Blade and Nick were kept awake at night by the piercing sounds of thunder, and flashes of lightning from a nearby dry thunderstorm. 

Nick growled as he opened his eyes, still laying on his belly on the sleeping mat.. “If we had the sound of rain to mask the claps of thunder, this wouldn’t be as much of an issue.”

Blade sighed, the window blinds were already down; there was nothing more that they could do. “Unfortunately, dry thunderstorms are quite common around here. We’re going to have another wildfire to fight tomorrow morning.”

“Yep.” Nick agreed. “Hopefully the spot fires won’t merge and form a big one.”

Blade chuckled. “Knowing our luck, they will.”

“Hey! Don’t be so cynical, Blade." Nick said as he stood on his skids. "If you say they won't, maybe they won’t.” 

“Last time we had a dry thunderstorm that happened. Just saying. Again, though, nothing that we can’t handle, right?”

Nick smirked. “Right.”

The two choppers eventually managed to sleep, and they weren't surprised when they heard an announcement from Patch, come daybreak.

"All aircraft, a lightning storm came through last night, and the multiple spot fires have merged into two separate fires. One at Coil Springs, one at Anchor Lake. Winds are out of the north with a rapid rate of spread." 

"Let's go." Blade said as he moved to exit the hangar.

Nick nodded as they met with Red Streak; the Smokejumpers and Cabbie had already left.

"This is a big one. The Smokejumpers are already heading to the Coil Springs fire to stop it from spreading. That one is the less severe of the two. Nick, you head to Coil Springs. Blade and I will tackle Anchor Lake." Red ordered.

"Got it." Nick said as Maru quickly filled Nick's tank with water and fire retardant, then hooking up another two hoses to fill Blade's tank. 

They were soon loaded up and ready to go, and the three aircraft took off. Nick split from Blade and Red, as he headed to Coil Springs to help fight the fire. 

He radioed Cabbie as he saw the smoke plume. "How's the situation?" 

"Fire lines are holding up. We just need water to extinguish the flames." Cabbie responded.

Nick soon saw Cabbie circling overhead, waiting for the Smokejumpers to leave the fire area so he could pick them up. He dropped water on the fire, successfully extinguishing about a quarter of the blaze. It was a tough one, but he could get it out eventually.

* * *

Blade, on the other hand, was dealing with a worse fire. It covered almost double the area the Coil Springs fire did, and it was wrapped halfway around Anchor Lake. 

"We can't scoop water from the lake this time. There's another one nearby which we can replenish from, but this will require boxing in to ensure that it doesn't spread with the wind. I'll take the left half, you take the right half. Copy that?" Red asked Blade as they approached the blaze.

"Copy that." Blade responded as he descended, dropping fire retardant on the sides of the fire to stop it from spreading further. That way, they could extinguish it effectively with water.

He finished boxing it in, and dropped the first round of water on the fire, which extinguished some of his side of the fire. It would take a while, but if the fire retardant held up, he would be golden.

He descended for another drop as he flew through the smoke quickly. Visibility decreased through the haze, so he ascended quickly after dropping more water to lessen the risk of him crashing into something not seen. It was also important to limit smoke exposure because it made you disorientated.

The wildfire slowly became under control through the repeated rounds of water, and Blade felt that he had a handle on the severity of the wildfire now. However, as he was about to empty his water tank with another round of water on the fire, he heard the sound of tree limbs snapping, but it was from the other end of the lake. Where Red Streak was.

Blade quickly flew over the lake surface to the other side of the lake, and his worst fears were confirmed when he saw Red slam into the forest floor. He landed quickly, as he knew that Red had crashed, and that time was of the essence.

"Patch, come in, this is Blade Ranger!" He spoke with urgency, as he tried to not sound panicked. All four of Red's propellers were broken as they sliced into the ground, and his right wing was bent severely, since it hit the ground first.

"I read you, Blade Ranger." Patch responded.

"Red Streak is down! I repeat, Red Streak is down! It's bad. We're at Anchor Lake." 

"Stay at your location. I'll send Cabbie to respond." 

"Smoke was too thick. Didn't see that my wing clipped the trees, and I was too disorientated to pull up…" Red explained.

"Save your strength. Cabbie will be here soon to bring you back to base." Blade responded. _Red will make it. I know he will._ He told himself.

Nick had just put out the last of the flames when he noticed a troubled expression on Cabbie's face as he stopped circling. "Is something wrong?" He asked.

"Red Streak just crashed. I'm going to bring him back to base before I can pick up the Smokejumpers." Cabbie explained.

Nick's eyes widened as he heard the news. "He crashed at Anchor Lake?" 

"Yes. You'd better come to help put out the wildfire there, since Red won't be able to." Cabbie said as he flew off in the direction of Anchor Lake.

Nick followed him anxiously. "Will he be alright?" 

"Maru's the best there is. It depends on the damage, though." Cabbie answered.

Nick was glad that it was an honest answer, but it wasn't reassuring. Not at all. 

They arrived at Anchor Lake, and saw Blade and Red on the ground while the wildfire continued to burn around the lake. The fire retardant was holding up for now, but they couldn’t take the chance that it would stay that way until Red could be airlifted back to base.

Blade was distraught as he looked up at the two aircraft. He took off to give Cabbie room to lower the straps to hoist Red into the sky. 

“Blade, we’d better extinguish this fire first before it spreads.” Nick advised as he hovered next to Blade.

“But Red…” Blade trailed off, as nothing more needed to be said for Nick to get what he was saying.

“Maru’s the best there is.” Nick said, echoing what Cabbie told him. “We can head back to base and see how he’s doing once we get this fire out.”

Blade nodded, and took the side of the wildfire Red was working on, as Nick finished off the job on the side Blade was working on. 

Cabbie hoisted Red into the air to transport him back to base, as Blade and Nick watched while dropping water on the two sides of the wildfire.

“You alright, Blade?” Nick radioed, since he knew that Blade was quite shaken by what happened to Red.

Blade was silent for a while before he sighed. “Yeah. Let’s finish this off, then we can head back.” He said as he refilled his water tank from another, smaller lake. That way, he would be able to do another several rounds of water to finally extinguish the rest of the flames.

“Copy that.” Nick replied as he managed to extinguish the fire on his side of the lake. He then flew over to Blade’s side of the lake to help him. 

Blade dropped another round of water, which finally extinguished the last of the Anchor Lake fire, leaving just charred trees on the ground. “Let’s head back.”

Nick nodded, and the two helicopters flew back to base. Maru was busy working on Red, who was now unconscious. Cabbie must’ve gone back to Coil Springs to pick up the Smokejumpers. They quickly headed over to Maru’s hangar, to see if they could do anything. 

“Nick, get me more hydraulic fluid. Stat!” Maru ordered as he tried to weld Red’s right wing back in the right position.

“Got it.” Nick replied as he quickly went to the shed to fetch replacement hydraulic fluid. 

“Is it induced, or did he pass out?” Blade asked as his voice shook from fear. 

“He passed out. With that much fluid loss, though, it’s to be expected.” Maru answered as sparks continued flying from his welding.

Blade saddened even more, as Nick came back with the hydraulic fluid. 

“Great.” Maru said as he hooked up a line to the hydraulic fluid container. “With this, he’s not beyond saving.” 

“Anything else we can do?” Nick asked.

“No. I’ll everyone know how he’s doing when I’m done.” Maru replied.

“Thank you, Maru.” Nick thanked as he moved to head back outside, when he saw Blade staring at the wall of fame. It didn’t take very long for Nick to figure out what that meant.

“Blade, all we can do is wait. We’ve done everything that we can.” Nick tried to console.

Blade stared at the wall for several more seconds before he looked at Nick. “Right. Let’s go.”

The two helicopters left Maru’s hangar so the forklift could focus on Red.

* * *

Nick sat in his shared hangar with Blade, as the Augusta Westland paced anxiously around the hangar. 

There was a knock at the doors to their hangar as Dynamite’s voice was heard from the other side. “Maru’s done.”

Blade stopped pacing and moved to open the doors, anxious to hear news of Red’s condition.

“I hope he’s alright.” Nick told Blade as they followed Dynamite to Maru’s hangar. 

Blade didn’t reply as he seemed lost in thought.

“Blade?” Nick asked, concerned.

“Oh. I hope he’s okay, too.” 

Dynamite regrouped with the other Smokejumpers and Cabbie, as Maru stood in front of closed hangar doors. 

“How is he?” Cabbie asked, once he saw that Blade and Nick had arrived.

“He…” Maru trailed off as he tried to find the right words to say. “He didn’t make it. The fluid loss was too severe, and he went into shock.”

There was a long period of silence as everyone took in the fact that Red Streak had just died. 

“You mean he’s…” Nick paused. He didn’t want to finish what he implied.

Maru nodded solemnly. “He’s dead.”

Blade had a blank expression as he stared at Maru. He couldn’t let that be reality. He wouldn’t. 

Cabbie sighed. “Well, we have a picture of him that we can put up. Thank you, Maru. You did everything that you could.”

Nick nodded in agreement. “We’ll remember his legacy.” 

The talk of remembering Red Streak’s legacy made Blade snap, and he quickly turned around, bolting towards his shared hangar with Nick. 

Everyone stared as Blade shut the hangar door in the distance, probably to cope. 

Nick didn’t expect Blade to do that. Not at all. “…I’ll go see if he’s okay.” He said as he drove over to the hangar. He stopped just outside the hangar doors, hearing Blade’s sobs from the other side. He didn’t know what he could do to help, but he’d try anyway. He’d be there for Blade, always.

The hangar doors slid open as Nick entered their shared hangar, and he closed them for privacy. The larger helicopter had tears streaming down his fuselage, and his landing gear trembled on the sleeping mat underneath. 

“Blade?” Nick simply asked.

“It was my fault!” Blade cried out between sobs.

“What? Blade, no, it wasn’t your fault. Why would you think that?” 

“All I could do was radio for help. I was the first one there, and I just stood there, watching Red die!” 

“You did everything right.” Nick asserted.

“If I did everything right, Nick, Red would still be alive. I’m the one-” 

“Blade!” Nick yelled, interrupting Blade before he could go down that train of thought.

Nick looked blurry through the tears obscuring his vision as Blade looked at his partner.

“I don’t think it was your fault. Maru doesn’t think it was your fault. No one here thinks it was your fault! As I said, you did everything right. Please, Blade. Don’t do this to yourself.” Nick pleaded.

“But I-” Blade was interrupted again, but this time, it was by something different.

Nick hugged Blade tightly with his skids, as he felt the pain the larger helicopter was going through. He let Blade’s tears trickle onto his own fuselage, trying to comfort him in whatever way possible. 

Blade’s sobs turned into whimpers as he felt slightly better in the embrace, hugging Nick back with his landing gear.

The two would be there for each other. Always.


	8. A New Chief

The next day, Blade stayed inside the hangar, since he couldn’t bring himself to watch Red being taken away. The team mourned that day; nature was kind to them so that there were no wildfires to interfere. 

Blade sighed as he stared out of one of the windows at the serene landscape surrounding the air attack base. What were they going to do, now that Red was gone?

Nick nudged one of the hangar doors open, looking at Blade. “They’re going to hang Red’s picture up on the wall. Did you want to come?”

Blade hesitated before responding, thinking about it. “…I’ll go.” He followed Nick out of the hangar, to where they were going to put Red’s picture up in Maru’s hangar. 

The team was gathered around the wall of fame, as Maru held the picture of Red.

Maru hung the picture up, right in the middle of the wall of fame. "We'll always remember you, Red." 

There was a moment of silence while everyone honored Red Streak's memory. It took all of Blade's strength to not cry again, right then and there. 

Nick moved his left skid to touch one of Blade's landing gear, trying to comfort the both of them during the grieving process. 

It seemed to help, as Blade looked at Nick with a slight nod in understanding. 

They started to disperse, until Maru stopped them. "While we're gathered here, we should address the metaphorical elephant in the room. We don't have a Chief of Fire and Rescue." 

Oh. Right. Because Red Streak had passed away. "Wouldn't the logical thing be whoever's been here the longest?" Nick asked.

"That would be me, and I have _way_ too much on my plate as the mechanic." Maru said.

"The Chief is usually someone who is experienced with aerial firefighting, which wouldn't be me, because I only transport the Smokejumpers." 

"They have to be experienced in aerial firefighting, because they're the one who trains incoming firefighters." Dynamite explained. 

"That leaves you and Blade." Maru concluded. Everyone now looked at the two helicopters.

"Wait, what?" Blade asked, shocked. Him and Nick? "But we've only been here for a year and half!"

"A year and a half's a pretty long time." Cabbie remarked. "Both of you are definitely experienced enough." 

Blade and Nick looked at each other. One of them would be the new Chief of Fire and Rescue, and they had no idea what it entailed. 

"Um…I'm not a leader figure, if I'm being honest." Nick admitted. "Blade?"

Blade took a deep breath. Somehow, he knew that the job would fall on him. He just hoped that he'd do a good job. "What else does being Chief of Fire and Rescue entail?" 

"Besides training incoming firefighters, you decide how the team attacks wildfires, you fight with the Park Service over budget, and you deal with Cad." Maru explained. 

Well, the job was a mixed bag. Training incoming firefighters sounded promising. Combining what he learned from Mayday and Red Streak, he was sure that he could handle that. He wasn't sure how he would deal with the Park Service and Cad, though. "…I guess I'll be the new Chief of Fire and Rescue." 

Cabbie and the Smokejumpers perked up at that. "You'll do great, Blade." Cabbie encouraged.

Maru nodded in agreement. "Yep! Now I gotta tell Cad." 

Nick was confused. "Huh? Is that protocol here?"

"Well, he's the park superintendent, even if none of us want him to be. He'll be the first to know when we have a new chief." Maru explained. The forklift then went over to the radio to connect to the Grand Fusel Lodge.

Nick nudged Blade with a skid while they headed back to their hangar, as everyone dispersed. "Wow, talk about a promotion, huh?" He said as he grinned.

"I'm not sure about this, Nick. I really only did it for the greater good of Piston Peak, since they need a chief, and I was the only one left. I'm not even sure what you meant when you said that you weren't a leader figure." 

"C'mon, Blade! You're more responsible than I am. You kept me awake during the classroom portion of our training. I'd say you're more of a leader than I could ever be." 

Blade was still concerned about his ability to be the new chief. "I'll be ordering everyone around now. Granted, I'll only be giving orders when there's a wildfire, but it's not something that I do." 

Nick rolled his eyes. "You have no qualms ordering me around." 

Blade opened the doors to their hangar. "That's different, Nick, and you know it. I'm calling the shots on the best way to tackle a wildfire. There's a lot at stake." 

Nick followed Blade inside. "I've seen the way you extinguish wildfires, and no one does it better than you. Trust me, I think you're overqualified for the job. Obviously, everyone else thinks so too, because they seemed quite keen on you becoming the new chief." 

"I guess you have a point there." Blade admitted.

"And with you in charge, you can take the Park Service and Cad head on. Make 'em respect us for what we do, and give us a bigger budget!" 

Nick's enthusiasm was appreciated, but Blade knew it wouldn't be that easy. "I'll see what I can do. I doubt that Red didn't try that before, though." 

"Hey, don't sell yourself short. You strike fear into anyone you glare at." Nick joked.

Blade smiled and chuckled. Nick always knew how to make him feel better. "How do you know? Because you were on the receiving end of it?"

"Who, me? Never!" Nick laughed along with Blade. 

"Thanks, Nick, for always being there for me. I don't know what I'd do without you." 

"Anytime, Blade." 

At that moment, Maru decided to barge into their hangar. "Problem! Cad's coming over, right now. Says he wants to greet you as the new chief." The forklift realized what he did as he looked at the two helicopters. "Oh. I should've knocked, huh?" 

"Never mind that. What do I say?" Blade asked. Did he have to write up a speech or something?

"Let him know that you're not on his side. He probably thinks you're new enough to be swayed." Maru surmised.

"Great. Let's go." Blade moved to exit the hangar, as Nick followed.

"All aircraft, be advised. Superintendent Spinner has entered the base. I repeat, Superintendent Spinner has entered the base." Patch's voice rang out through the PA, warning of the Escalade's arrival. 

"Is Blazin' Blade Ranger the new Chief of Fire and Rescue? Yes he is!" Cad greeted as he pulled up into the base. "All due respect to Rednose. Great firefighter. But we have a superstar as the new chief! How cool is that?"

Blade glared at Cad. "His name was Red Streak. Show him some respect. And CHoPs ended two years ago. Stop it with the nickname." 

"Ouch! For someone who's blazin', you're ice cold. How about this: Meet and Greet with the new chief! Eh?" 

Cad expected enthusiasm from Blade, but got none. Quite the contrary, actually. 

"I am not heading to your lodge to smile for pictures." Blade stated firmly.

"Well then how do we get the tourists? To fund the park constellation fund or whatever?" 

"It's the park _conservation_ fund, and what about funding the people who actually conserve the park: us? Because there would be no park to conserve if it's all burned to the ground." 

"You all are managing fine! I saw Coil Springs and Anchor Lake get extinguished. Besides, the lodge restoration project is going to be underway soon! We need all of the funding that we can get." 

"Emphasis on managing, Cad. The runway has potholes. The water hoses have multiple pieces of duct tape holding them together. Nick and I have tanks that are ten years old! Are you going to wait until something breaks, and we can't do a thing about it?" 

"Fine. I'll relay your message to the Park Service. But get this: with the new lodge, we're going to extend the scenic railway to go _inside_ the lodge, so no one has to drive to it! A gift shop. A bar. Over a hundred rooms! Even a spa. Five star hotel quality once we start the restoration. Piston Peak will be the go to place. Not just a national park." 

Blade wasn't amused. If anything, Cad was digging a bigger hole for himself. "So you're telling me that having a so-called 'five star hotel' quality lodge is more important than keeping our firefighting equipment up to date?" 

Cad realized what he was doing, and decided to make his exit. "No matter. You might not be excited now, but when it's done, you'll realize that it's a great investment! Farewell!"

Blade sighed after Cad was out of sight. "Ugh…"

"Hey, at least he said that he'd tell the Park Service!" Nick pointed out.

"Yeah, he said he would. I hope that he actually does it." 

"I told you the glare works." Nick told Blade as he smirked.

"Heh, the question is if it will work every time." 

"Even if it doesn't, you handled that very well."

Nick had a point. Even though it was a pain, it was over. He could do this. Right?


	9. The New SEAT

Many years went by. CHoPs faded away from the public’s memory. Blade had gotten used to his position as the Chief of Fire and Rescue, and the consensus was that he was doing a great job. Of course, the conditions at the air attack base were never better than “managing” under Cad’s administration, but Blade did all that he could to ensure that equipment they had would not fail them when they needed it the most.

Lil’ Dipper and Windlifter arrived during that time span, of course taking two of the three new hangars they managed to acquire. Blade figured that it'd be best to have a spare hangar on hand if it was needed, so he and Nick still shared a hangar. They had gotten accustomed to it by this point, though, so it didn’t bother them. 

Lil’ Dipper’s enthusiasm rivaled Nick’s, as she went on and on about air racing when she watched RSN. Blade and Nick didn’t follow, since they didn’t watch RSN, but it was always entertaining to watch her talk excitedly about different air racers, specifically Dusty Crophopper. 

Windlifter, on the other hand, was a quiet soul. He was a helicopter of few words, but when he spoke, it always carried great wisdom. His Native American wisdom seemed to allow him to predict anything about wildfires. 

Initially, Blade and Nick thought it was a fluke when he predicted that a wildfire had a rapid rate of spread and it did, but when he said that a wildfire was coming before Patch even made the announcement and it did, they just came to accept that Windlifter knew fires better than they did.

It was a normal day at the base when Blade was radioed by Mayday in his shared hangar with Nick, and the Hughes listened intently when Blade picked up to talk to their old instructor.

“Mayday. It’s great to talk to you again. How’ve you been?” Blade greeted.

“Ah…not very good, Blade, to be honest. We had to topple a water tower over here in Propwash Junction to put out a fire at the Fill n’ Fly. The TMST shut us down as an airport.”

Blade was speechless. He didn’t expect that bombshell when he picked up. 

“I’m really proud of you both, though. You two are doing great at Piston Peak.”

“Well, we had the best instructor.” Blade replied.

“Is there any way to get Propwash reopened?” Nick asked, concerned.

“I have to get refurbished, and we have to get a second firefighter. Actually, that’s what I radioed you both for. I’m sending over a new SEAT to Piston Peak today. I hope that you can certify him, Blade.”

“He didn’t go to a fire academy?” Blade asked.

“No, he didn’t. He’s new.” Mayday confirmed.

So he’d be starting from scratch. Great. It wasn’t anything that he couldn’t handle, though. “Alright. Of course I can certify him, Mayday. I’ll do anything to help get Propwash reopened.” 

“Thank you, Blade! Oh, I have to get going. Dottie’s going to fit me with a new siren! I can’t wait for you both to hear it. Bye!”

“Wait, Mayday, what’s his-” Blade cut off as all he heard was static. Mayday had hung up already. “Great. We don’t even know his name.”

“All the more exciting, right?” Nick said, trying to make light of the situation.

Blade sighed. “It’s not going to be a good first impression if he arrives, and the first thing we have to ask him is who he is.”

“He’ll probably introduce himself when he arrives. Anyway, we should probably tell everyone.” 

“Right.” Blade agreed. They headed out of their shared hangar, and told Patch to make an announcement for everyone to gather. 

“What’s the news, Blade?” Dipper asked as she pulled up with Windlifter.

“We have a new SEAT coming in. Mayday radioed about it.” Blade answered.

“A new SEAT? How exciting! It never hurts to have another firefighter, especially with fire season going on.”

“Except that he’s not a firefighter. He’s not certified. I’ll have to train him from scratch.” Blade revealed.

“FROM SCRATCH?” Avalanche yelled, since he lacked an inside voice.

“That’s tough. If he’s coming here first thing, though, he must be very driven.” Dynamite mused.

“Did Mayday give a name?” Windlifter asked.

“Nope! He forgot about that part.” Nick replied.

“How could you forget to mention the guy’s name?” Maru grumbled.

“Well, he’ll probably introduce himself when he arrives.” Blade said.

“I hope so. Can’t be referring to him as ‘the SEAT’ forever.” Maru stated.

“Yeah. Hey, Blade. Weren’t we supposed to be scouting for spot fires today?” Nick remembered.

“Oh, right. Let’s go.” Blade replied.

“See you two later!” Dipper waved, as the group dispersed, since the announcement Blade wanted to make was over. 

The two helicopters took off from the helipad, and flew over the treetops of Piston Peak, looking for any signs of smoke. 

“Time for you to be in Mayday’s tires, huh?” Nick remarked as they flew.

“Yeah. I was fine training Dipper and Windlifter because they were already certified. From scratch, though?” Blade was still unsure of himself.

“Mayday took on both of us, while you can have your undivided attention of the new SEAT. He’ll learn quickly under you.” Nick reassured Blade.

“I sure hope so…” Blade then saw a plume of smoke rising from behind one of the rocky cliffs. “We’ve got one. Radio Patch, Nick.” 

Nick nodded in acknowledgement. “Patch, come in. This is Nick Lopez.”

“I read you, Nick Lopez.” Patch responded.

“We’ve got a start 10 clicks northwest. Around ten acres with a northerly wind. Looks to be due to an unattended campfire.” Nick informed Patch. 

“Rate of spread?” Patch inquired.

“Slow.”

“I’ll let the team know.” Patch responded.

“She’s on it.” Nick told Blade.

“Great. Let’s get started boxing in this fire.” Blade said as he started dropping fire retardant on one side of the fire.

Nick did the other side, successfully containing the fire vertically. “I do the left side, you do the right?”

“Affirmative.” Blade confirmed. He climbed into the air and flipped over to turn around, so he could drop the rest of his fire retardant on the right side of the fire.

“Learned that from me, huh?” Nick smirked as he dropped fire retardant on the left side of the fire. He soon heard the sound of multiple engines, as the rest of the air attack team arrived.

“Maybe.” Blade replied as he connected to the main radio frequency to give orders. “All right, mud droppers, watch your altitude. Too low, and you'll spread the embers. Dipper, set up for a drop and vee the head of the fire.”

“Copy that. I'm away.” Dipper replied. She dropped half of her fire retardant tank, reinforcing the line at the head of the fire.

“Windlifter, you're clear to maneuver.” Blade notified the Sikorsky.

“Windlifter copies.” Windlifter replied, dropping fire retardant at the base of the fire.

“All right, Cabbie. Let's get some wheels on the ground.” Blade ordered Cabbie.

Cabbie dropped the Smokejumpers in the South Meadow, flying away once they had landed safely.

“Dynamite, use that creek bed as a natural barrier to create a firebreak.” Blade told Dynamite.

Dynamite and the rest of the Smokejumpers got to work, collecting tree limbs and trunks to block the fire from spreading.

Blade saw a herd of deer tractors running from the blaze on the ground, and quickly picked up one of the deer with his hoist as a burning pine tree came crashing down. He dropped the deer safely on the ground at the front of the herd, after carrying the deer to safety. He started to ascend from the woods, until an orange Air Tractor almost collided into him, startling him. 

“Who the…get out of this air space!” Blade yelled. If whoever this guy was collided with any of the other members of the air attack team, it wouldn’t be pretty. 

“I’m sorry!” The Air Tractor responded, only to fly into fire retardant being dropped by Dipper.

“Uh oh…” Dipper said.

Blade’s eyes narrowed as he watched the Air Tractor fly haphazardly through the air. “Nick, go escort him back to base. We’re going to have to wash him off.”

Nick was trying not to laugh at the whole situation, because he had never seen anyone fly into fire retardant, and it was _funny._ “Copy that.” 

Dusty sputtered as he flew straight ahead, trying to get back to the air attack base, when Nick pulled up alongside him. “Nice flyin’ out there! Almost got one of your wings sliced off by Blade’s rotors.” He joked.

Dusty coughed as he tried to get the taste of fire retardant out of his mouth. It wasn’t pleasant, to say the least. “Is there a place where I can wash up?” 

“Yeah, the base. Follow me.” Nick said as they flew toward the air attack base. “Maru, hook up a fire hose. We’re gonna need to wash somebody off. Flew into fire retardant.” He radioed.

“Was it you?” Maru joked from the other end.

Nick rolled his eyes. “No, Maru, it wasn’t me. It was…uh…” He looked at the Air Tractor expectantly.

“Oh. It’s Dusty. Dusty Crophopper.” 

“You mean the ‘world famous’ air racer? Dipper goes on and on about you.” Nick said as he laughed. “It was Dusty Crophopper.” 

“Got it. Hooking up the fire hose now.” Maru replied.

They arrived at the base, and Maru smirked as he held up the fire hose. 

“Close your eyes.” Maru warned as he blasted Dusty with ice-cold water, just as the rest of the team came back. 

Dusty yelled throughout the entire process as Nick watched, amused. Blade, however, was not so amused. 

“Ah. That ought to do it. Well, back to work. I gotta mix up a fresh batch of retardant.” Maru turned around, still carrying the fire hose to mix the water into the retardant powder.

“Once you dry out, you can wing it on back to the lodge with the rest of the tourists.” Blade stated as he moved to go back to the hangar.

“Um, uh, I'm not a tourist. Actually, I'm the guy that May-” Dusty started, until he was interrupted by Windlifter.

“He’s the trainee.” Windlifter told Blade.

Blade stopped in his tracks at that, turning around as he looked annoyed. “You're the SEAT Mayday radioed about? Oh, for the love of…” 

“Come on, Blade. He's not just some SEAT!” Dipper said, trying to put in a good word for Dusty.

 _This won’t end well._ Nick thought.

Obviously, Dusty had the same mindset as he tried to stop Dipper. “No, no, no.”

“Seriously. It's Dusty Crophopper.”

“Hi.” Dusty greeted awkwardly.

“The champion air racer!”

“‘Champion.’” Dusty echoed, trying to downplay what Dipper was saying.

“Don't be shy. Come on! Tell him!”

“No big deal.” Dusty again tried to downplay.

“He raced all the way around the world!” 

Dusty laughed nervously. “I did. I did do that.” He admitted.

Blade was definitely not amused, as he approached the air racer. “The world wasn't on fire though, was it?”

“Was the whole world on fire? No?” Dusty replied, unsure of himself with such a question.

“Hmm.” Blade remarked, seeming deep in thought. “Maru!” He called out, looking in the direction of Maru’s hangar.

Maru turned around from what he was doing. “What?”

“Rip off his landing gear.” Blade ordered.

“W-Wait, what?” Dusty stammered, looking at Maru.

Maru grinned, revealing his missing tooth as he flipped his welding visor down, holding up his welding tools. 

Dusty was ushered into the hangar by Maru, still stuttering as he expected the worst. Nick looked at Blade with a raised eyebrow. “Did you really have to put it that way, Blade? Poor guy looked like he was going to leak himself.”

Blade was nonchalant. “He’ll realize that Maru is just replacing his landing gear with pontoons. With those tip tanks, he’s lucky that he didn’t explode while flying that close to the wildfire.”

“You have a point. Honestly, it’s like ripping off my skids, though. I shudder to think about it.”

“Then don’t think about it.” Blade replied.

Nick rolled his eyes. “Thanks, Blade, very helpful.” 

They headed back to their hangar, waiting for Dusty to be fitted with the pontoons, so that he’d be ready to start training.


	10. Training Dusty

“You think Maru’s done with the pontoons?” Nick asked in his and Blade’s shared hangar.

“It’s only been an hour. I doubt it.” Blade replied.

“Hm. You know, Blade, you should give Dusty a chance. I know it wasn’t the best first impression, but as Dynamite said, he must be very driven if he’s coming here first thing for his certification.”

“I would think that it’s common sense to not fly around a giant wildfire, while we’re trying to put it out, though.” Blade retorted.

“He’s probably just excited to start training to get certified! He’s doing it for Propwash too, you know.” 

Blade sighed. “He has to show that he has what it takes. Firefighting’s no walk in the park.” 

“Did I say that it was? No. You and I know that the fire academy was hard. If he has the tenacity to fly around the entire _world,_ though, I think he’ll never give up in his goal of getting certified.”

“…I guess you’re right.” Blade conceded.

Nick gestured towards the hangar door with one of his skids. “C’mon, let’s go check. Can’t hurt, right?” 

“You really can’t stay still in one place for very long, huh?” Blade chuckled as he moved to open the hangar doors.

“Nope! You know that about me already, though.”

The two helicopters left their shared hangar to head over to Maru's hangar, to see if Maru was done putting pontoons on Dusty. 

"Yeah, it's dangerous work, but that's the job of a firefighter. Risking their lives for people they don't even know. They fly in when others are flying out. It takes a special kind of plane." They heard Maru say. 

When Blade and Nick could see inside the hangar, Dusty was staring at the wall of fame solemnly. Just like they were when they first came. 

"Red Streak, Snowball, and McLeod were their names." Blade said from behind Dusty, causing the air racer to turn around to look at him and Nick.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know it was that kind of wall of fame." Dusty apologized.

"Well, now you know." Blade looked over Dusty's "new" pontoons. "You look ready, so be ready tomorrow morning for your training." 

"Got it." Dusty replied. "Um…where can I stay?"

"We have a spare hangar that you can use." Maru piped up from the back of the hangar.

"Great, thanks." 

"It's the one at the end of the row of hangars." Nick informed Dusty.

"At the end. Thanks, uh…" Dusty hesitated. "I don't think I got your name." 

"Oh, sorry. It's Nick Loopin' Lopez." Nick immediately realized that he shouldn't have included his nickname, as Blade glared at him. 

"Loopin'? Is that a nickname?" Dusty inquired, not noticing Blade's glare.

"Yeah, um, I can do a loop in the air. That's why I have the nickname." He conveniently left out any mention of CHoPs.

"Oh, okay, cool." Dusty remarked, not pressing the subject any farther. "I guess I'll head to my hangar to, you know, make myself at home." 

"Of course. See you tomorrow." Nick waved with a skid.

Dusty waved back as he headed towards the spare hangar. "See you, Nick."

There was a permeating silence between the two helicopters when they headed back to their shared hangar, and it continued as they headed inside. 

Nick cleared his throat awkwardly, as he decided to break the silence. "I'm sorry for mentioning that part. Force of habit." 

"…It's fine." Blade replied.

"Why do you not like our TV show?" Nick asked.

"It was a long time ago, Nick, and I want to be known for what I do here. Not as the hot shot helicopter cop. Besides, that's where you had your accident, and I felt helpless. Just like I did when Red died." 

"Blade…" Nick sighed. "You know that in both of those instances, it wasn't your fault. I was dumb, and didn't take into account wind during my stunt. We already talked about Red." 

"I know. I'm just telling you why I don't like it." Blade stated. 

"Thanks for telling me. You know, if there's anything bothering you, I'm here."

Blade smiled. "Thanks, Nick. Same goes for me."

* * *

Nick grunted as he finished pushing a burning wooden barrel into position on the runway for Dusty to practice dropping water on, aligned with two other identical barrels he had already pushed with his skids. Dipper and Maru had already helped in training Dusty; now it was his turn. "That should do it, Blade." 

"Great, thanks." Blade replied, as the two helicopters watched Dusty come in to drop water. He dropped it…on the runway. The barrels were still alight. "Too early." 

Dusty went around for another shot, dropping the water at the right time, but he flew too high. The water was too dispersed by the time that it reached the ground. "Too high!"

Dusty tried one last time with the remaining water in his tank, and managed to knock the barrels over with the water, but they were still burning. "Too low. Those crops of yours. They die a lot?" 

"Blade, it's his first time. It took me eight tries to extinguish all of them." Nick reproached. Blade did bring up a good point though. He expected a former cropduster to be better at dropping water on a target. Maybe it had been too long for Dusty to remember.

Nick sighed as he went out to set the barrels upright. It'd be a while before Dusty would be ready.

* * *

"He dumped fire retardant on campers." Blade complained to Nick in their hangar. "I understand that we messed up plenty of times while learning under Mayday, but dumping fire retardant on an attended campfire? The smoke plume for a wildfire is much larger." 

"I don't know what it is between him and fire retardant, but they don't mix." Nick joked as he chuckled. 

"I'll say. He also won't push his engine at Augerin Canyon. He's afraid of hitting Whitewall Falls."

"Well, I'd say that's a valid concern, wouldn't you?" Nick asked.

"He would be dead if there was a downdraft, and he pulled power." 

"It's the first two days of training. He'll get better."

Suddenly, Patch's voice could be heard over the PA. "All aircraft, be advised. Superintendent Spinner has entered the base. I repeat, Superintendent Spinner has entered the base." 

Blade sighed. "Ugh. What does he want?" 

"I don't know, but we'd better go out and see." Nick replied as they exited the hangar. 

If possible, Cad got even more obnoxious as time went on, now that his lodge restoration project was complete. He honked his horn as he entered the base, alerting everyone to his presence. Just in case if Patch's announcement wasn't enough.

"Honk honk, beep beep! Park superintendent coming. I sign your paychecks. Anybody gonna greet me? Yes, you are!" 

Maru rolled his eyes, driving away to his hangar. "I got some oil pans to change." 

Cad saw Blade coming with Nick. "Blade, Blade, Blade." 

"What do you want, Cad?" Blade just wanted to get this over and done with.

"That's a big hill. Listen. Do you think I like driving all around over here and up there, over there just to complain? Answer: No, I don't. But, I heard from some campers that one of your staff just soaked them with that red fire phosphorescent stuff that you use. The deodorant." 

"It's _retardant._ " Nick corrected. 

"Yeah, I'm sorry. That was my fault." Dusty said, coming out from behind Blade.

"The team needs to train. There's gonna be some mud spilled along the way." Blade stated.

"Are you kidding me?" Cad asked as he recognized Dusty, not caring about the unhappy campers any more.

"No, that's the way it works." Blade replied, still thinking that Cad was referring to what he said.

"No, you are not! Blade, you're hiding a world famous racer right here at Piston Peak!" 

"He did this when he saw us on our first day." Nick told Blade.

Blade nodded in agreement, as he glared at Cad.

"Ripslingah!" Cad mistakenly called Dusty.

"Uh, it's Crophopper." Dusty corrected.

"Crophoppah!"

"Dusty."

"Yeah, right. Me, Cad Spinner. You, one fast plane. What are you doing up here?" Cad asked.

"Well, I'm getting certified-" Dusty was interrupted as Cad decided to talk.

"Doesn't matter. Tomorrow night. The lodge. Grand reopening party. You're invited! And I'm thinking, high-speed flyover. What are you thinking?" 

"I'm thinking it'll be…it'll be dark." 

"Hey! There's gonna be a lot of VIPs. 'Very Important Planes.' How would you like to rub tires with the Secretary of the Interior of the United States?" Cad paused. "Of America! I smell photo op! Flash! Cha-ching. You gotta do it! Come on!" 

Blade had enough of what Cad was trying to do. "I smell something else." 

Cad looked exasperated. "Blade, Blade, Blade. Can I explain something? Yes, I can. Look, spilling mud on people makes for sad campers. Big party at my lodge makes for happy campers! You understand?" He was acting like he was talking to a five year old, and Nick was getting pissed off. 

"You've packed too many happy campers into the park, and way too many into that lodge." 

"Oh, we've got a structural fire engine down there protecting it." Cad dismissed.

"This isn't just about protecting the lodge. There's low humidity, a lot of dead wood, and we haven't had rain in over two weeks. And don't even get me started on the base itself. This base is held together with baling wire and duct tape! Maru had to rebuild that old tower himself!"

"It's better than new!" Maru yelled from beside the control tower.

"Hear me, fellow forest friends, dirty though you may be. This is an historic weekend." Cad was cut off by his phone ringing, and he raised his antenna to answer the call. 

"Cad, you got 30 seconds. Go. I don't care how much it costs! Yes, get the crystal glasses. Yes, fluted! Were you built in a barn? Come on! The lodge is only gonna be grand-reopened once. I'm not gonna-" 

Cad cut off as he saw Blade, Nick, and everyone else glaring at him. He smiled sheepishly. "Could you hold on a second?" He said to them, before returning to the call as he drove next to a pair of dumpsters. "Then fire the old lady, and get somebody who can get them!" He yelled, hanging up afterwards.

"You're not the only ones who can put out a fire, right?" Cad chuckled. He then looked at Dusty. "Will I see you at the party? Yes I will." He said as he clicked his tongue. "Superstar! Can you believe it? Dusty Cropslinger! He's even more famous than you, Blazin' Blade." 

Blade sighed in annoyance as he rolled off, back to the hangar. 

"…I'll go see if he's okay." Nick told Dipper and Windlifter, before following Blade to their hangar. 

"Blade? Are you okay?" Nick asked, as Blade opened the hangar doors. 

"It's just Cad. I'll be fine." Blade replied.

"Trust me. I wanted to give him a piece of my mind for every second that he was talking." Nick admitted. He was a short-tempered helicopter; if someone pissed him off, they'd be sorry.

"It's a good thing you didn't. I would've had to hold you back." 

"Why?" Nick asked.

"I already told him about the safety concerns, and lack of funding for our base. Reiterating it won't do anything." Blade pointed out.

Nick sighed. "I really hope the Park Service realizes that the fact that we're just managing is not sustainable." 

Blade nodded in agreement. "Me too, Nick. Me too."

* * *

Nick awoke to flashes of lightning outside the hangar window, claps of thunder following. _Another dry thunderstorm. Great._ He thought. 

"Another sleepless night, huh?" Nick got no response, and he soon realized that Blade wasn't in the hangar. His sleeping mat was empty.

Nick frowned, and decided to leave the hangar to look for Blade. He didn't want the helicopter getting struck by lightning or something, no matter how rare it was. He soon saw the silhouette of Blade on an overlook, and another flash of lightning occurred, with a clap of thunder. 

Nick made his way to the overlook through the trees, the wind blowing hard against his fuselage. "Blade? What are you doing out this late?" He asked.

"Keeping watch for spot fires ignited by the dry thunderstorm." Blade replied, continuing to look straight ahead at the valley below.

"Were you planning on doing this for the whole night?" Nick asked.

"…No." 

Nick frowned. "You hesitated. Blade, you need to sleep. I need to sleep. We'll see where the spot fires are in the morning." 

"By then, they'll be large." Blade pointed out.

"It's one in the morning, Blade. In six hours, they'll be manageable. How are you going to fight a fire effectively if you're sleep deprived?" 

"I'll manage." 

"No, you won't." 

"Go back to sleep, Nick." 

"I'm not leaving if you're not going back with me." Nick said defiantly.

Blade knew that Nick was not bluffing. "…Fine. Let's go." 

The two headed back to the hangar, as more flashes of lightning filled the sky. It'd be a busy day tomorrow, for sure.


	11. Cad's Party

“All aircraft and jumpers, lightning storm came through. We've got multiple starts north of Skyline Drive, east of Coil Springs.” Patch announced through the PA.

Blade and Nick landed from their morning patrol. Sure enough, the lightning storm last night ignited multiple spot fires. “Lightning storm started a whole slew of spot fires, and they've merged. This is a big one.” Blade advised the team.

“Winds are out of the southwest with a moderate rate of spread.” Patch relayed.

“Rapid.” Windlifter predicted, after looking at the treetops swaying in the wind.

“Wait. We have an update. Rapid rate of spread.” Patch corrected.

“Dipper, you and Windlifter load up. Champ, wait in the hangar.” Blade ordered.

“What?” Dusty asked, hurt that he was going to be left on the sidelines.

“Blade, Dusty's been practicing so hard!” Dipper pointed out.

“This ain't no campfire.” Blade retorted.

“Come on, I can do this!” Dusty asserted.

“You’re not certified.” 

“Just give him a shot!” Dipper pleaded.

“He’s not certified!”

“We need every plane we've got.” Windlifter piped up, in Dusty’s defense.

“I want to help.” Dusty said, as he approached the Augusta Westland.

“If he wants to help, let him.” Nick told Blade.

Blade looked at him, then at Dusty and the rest of the team, before firing up his rotors. “Maru!”

“Yeah, Blade?” The forklift replied, while holding a hose connected to a fire retardant tank.

“Load him up.” Blade ordered as took off, Nick following.

“Okay!” Maru replied.

The Smokejumpers were already busy making a fire line on the ground, before the team arrived at the site of the wildfire.

“Dipper, move into position. Split load. Coverage level eight.” Blade ordered.

“Dipper copies.” Dipper released half of her tank of fire retardant on the edge of the fire, to contain it.

“Come left one wingspan on your next drop.” Blade told Dipper. “Champ, tag on and extend. Split load.”

“Copy that.” Dusty dropped half of his fire retardant on the edge of the wildfire, but it dispersed too much by the time it reached the ground.

“Too high! It all dispersed. Windlifter, finish off that ridge.” 

"Windlifter copies." The Sikorsky replied.

Then, the wind suddenly shifted, and the wildfire jumped between the tree tops, surrounding the Smokejumpers on two sides. "Pull back! Pull back! Let's go, let's go right now!" Dynamite commanded.

They tried to escape, but a massive burning pine tree fell to the ground in front of them, blocking their escape route.

"Blade, we got a situation. The wind shifted. The fire jumped the line." Dynamite informed Blade.

"Can you make it to your safety zone?" Blade inquired, trying to assess the severity of the situation.

"No, no good. Our escape route is blocked. We need a drop." Dynamite replied, sounding urgent, as she backed up from the inferno.

"Copy that. Nick, Smokejumpers trapped. Left flank, set up for a drop." Blade ordered.

"Nick c-" Nick was cut off, as Dusty saw them first.

"I see them. I've got it." Dusty said, determined to help out this time. He soared above where the Smokejumpers were as Nick watched, and he dropped fire retardant directly over them, right on target. The flames were immediately extinguished around them.

"All right. We're clear. Let's move. Let's get to the lake." Dynamite commanded, now that they were safe. 

"That's my Dust Muffin!" Dipper exclaimed, proud of what Dusty had done.

Nick smiled. It looked like those two days of training had paid off. 

"Champ, load and return. We still got a lot of work to do." Blade ordered.

"Copy that." Dusty replied, heading back to base.

"Nick, finish off the northern side of the wildfire. That way, we can keep it under control." 

"Nick copies." Nick replied, dropping fire retardant to box the wildfire in, so it couldn't spread.

Blade surveyed the wildfire, and saw that it wasn't growing. Good. "Dipper, Nick, Windlifter. Move into position onto the north, south, and east perimeters of the fire, and drop water to minimize the area. I'll take the west perimeter." 

After those instructions were followed, the fire was well under control, and it was no longer a major threat. "We think the fire is well under control. We'll report to Patch with details, but we can take it from here." Dynamite informed Blade. 

"Copy that. Team, return to base." They flew back to the base, where Dusty was waiting. 

"Dynamite just reported in. They're gonna camp out tonight and mop it up tomorrow." Patch announced over the PA.

"Cabbie, how's it looking?" Maru inquired.

"We got that sucker boxed in." 

"Nice work!"

"That's why we're here."

Dusty sighed. At least he managed to do something to help this time. "So, that's it?" He asked Dipper.

"Yep! Fire is contained. The jumpers will stir on it until it's out. You did a great job out there, sweet SEAT." Dipper complimented.

"Thanks! I saw the jumpers in trouble, so I-" Dusty was interrupted by Blade, who rolled up with Nick.

"You broke formation in a crowded airspace. Could've been you spread all over the woods instead of retardant. Don't go planning your certification party yet, Champ." Blade grumbled, heading off to his and Nick's shared hangar. 

Nick sighed, giving Dusty a sympathetic smile. Something told him that this had to do with Red's death. "Hey. You did great out there." 

Dusty gave a slight smile back, but the Hughes could tell that the air racer was still saddened. "Thanks, Nick."

"Besides, that's just Blade's way of saying 'Good job.'" Dipper said.

Nick chuckled. "It sure is." At that moment, the roar of jet engines filled the air, as a big private jet flew right over the base. 

"Whoa. That was low." Dipper remarked.

"Cad's VIPs." Windlifter added.

"Oh, yeah, that's right. He's having a big party up at the lodge tonight. We should go!" Dusty suggested.

"A second date? Wow. Room!" Dipper exclaimed, misunderstanding what Dusty meant.

Luckily, Dusty quickly corrected Dipper. "Uh, I kind of meant all of us. You know, you and me, and Windlifter, and just everybody." 

"Oh! Okay. Okay, okay, yeah. Mmm-hmm. You're right, you're right. I should get to know your friends." One of Dipper's eyebrows twitched as she finished talking, seeming to forget that she had known literally everyone else besides Dusty for longer.

"…But they're your friends." Dusty pointed out.

Dipper chuckled as she headed off to her hangar. "Well, yeah, I guess. Yeah. Let's not bicker."

Dusty looked at Nick and Windlifter, bewildered. Nick just gave a shrug in response, while Windlifter raised an eyebrow. "So…are you two coming to the party?"

"I suppose that it would not hurt." Windlifter replied.

"I will. I gotta see if Blade's up for it, though." 

"Yeah, of course! Uh, I'm assuming Dipper's coming, heh." 

"Well, obviously, since it was your idea." Nick said as he laughed, heading off to his and Blade's hangar. 

"Knock, knock." Nick said as he entered their hangar. "You know, you don't need to keep reminding Dusty about the possibility of death." 

"Actually, yes, I do. He needs to understand what firefighting means, and what it takes." Blade replied.

Nick parked next to Blade on his sleeping mat, sighing. "Come on, Blade. He saved the Smokejumpers. You gotta give him something. Your training did that." 

"Fine. He did do that. I just don't want him going in thinking that it's an idyllic job." 

"What makes you think that's his impression? He saw the wall of fame. Maru even told him straight up that firefighters risk their lives doing the job. He knows." 

Blade sighed, looking at Nick. "I guess so." 

"Anyway, I came here to tell you that Dusty suggested that we go to Cad's reopening party." 

"He what?" Blade didn't look pleased. Not at all. 

"As a social function, you know?" Nick added.

"That's the lodge that's been sucking from our budget, and he thinks it's a good idea to go to the party?" Blade questioned.

"Look. I know that none of us like Cad, but what's been done has been done. It's a way for us to get out of the base."

"I do _not_ want to have to talk to him if I don't have to." 

"Blade, the party will be packed to the brim with VIPs. He won't focus on us; almost no one remembers CHoPs anymore." 

"…Is the whole team going?" Blade asked.

"Pretty much. You'd be left alone here until we come back." Nick stated.

Being alone didn't sound appealing, no matter his displeasure of going to a party organized by Cad. He sighed in defeat. "I suppose I'll go." 

"We're probably just going to hang with the rest of the team, anyway." Nick added.

"Right. Are we leaving now?" Blade asked.

Nick looked out of a hangar window. "Probably. The sun's already setting." 

"We should go, then." Blade stated, opening the hangar doors so he and Nick could join the others.

* * *

Giant lights shone into the sky from the lit up lodge, as Piston Peak Air Attack approached the entrance. 

"Welcome to the Fusel Lodge." A bellhop forklift greeted.

"Be sure to get your complimentary bumper sticker over at the Gift Garage!" Another bellhop added.

"Whoa! Look at this place." Dusty exclaimed.

"It's so beautiful. Dusty-poo, this is the perfect date! Let's check it out before we check in." Dipper said, not seeming to get that this wasn't a date.

"Hey there, folks." A bellhop greeted.

"Hi." Dusty replied.

"Like to get your picture taken with the superintendent?" 

They looked over to see a green van taking a picture with what looked like Cad Spinner, until the cardboard cut out fell over with a dull "thud." 

Nick couldn't help but laugh at the sight, and Maru seemed to share his sentiments as he chuckled as well.

"Uh…" Dusty obviously wasn't thrilled. Who wanted to take a picture with a cardboard cutout, anyway? 

"Ha! Classy." Maru remarked.

They watched as a concierge forklift checked in a newlywed couple.

"Wow. They do weddings here. Did you know that?" Dipper asked Dusty.

A train pulled into the lodge, releasing steam into the air. 

"Cad was not kidding when he said that the railway would be extended inside the lodge." Nick remarked to Blade.

"When it comes to his projects, he never kids." Blade replied. 

"Hey, Windlifter and I are going to get coffee. Any of you want some?" Maru asked.

"I could go for some. Even though it's night." Nick replied.

"I'll pass." Dusty said.

"Hey, look! They have a miniature diorama of Piston Peak! Let's check it out, Dust Storm!"

"Uh…ok." Dusty followed Dipper, as Nick chuckled. "I guess we're going with Maru and Windlifter." 

They followed them to the coffee shop, which was named "Piston Perk." 

"Wow. Creative name." Nick joked as Maru looked over the menu. 

"Heartland Express? Piston Pumpkin Spice? Where's just the normal coffee?" Maru asked, becoming frustrated from looking at all of the flowery names for various drinks.

"Probably the one under Highway Espresso. Espresso is just coffee." Blade said.

"Then just say Espresso…" Maru grumbled. 

Nick got the same thing after Maru ordered. Blade looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "If you can't sleep tonight, don't expect me to stay awake with you." 

Nick rolled his eyes. "It's just a small cup of coffee, Blade. Not gonna do much." 

"Don't even have normal coffee here. I had to get something called a 'Highway Expresso.'" Maru told Windlifter, holding the cup of coffee on his right forklift arm.

Windlifter had tried on a pair of sunglasses at the nearby Gift Garage, and was examining how he looked in a provided mirror, so he didn't hear Maru complaining. "What do you think?"

"You look good!" Maru replied.

"Eh…" Windlifter didn't seem particularly thrilled about them.

Maru and Windlifter's conversation turned Blade and Nick's attention on Windlifter's new look. "Wow, Wind! You look cool with those shades." Nick complimented.

"You think so?" Windlifter asked.

"Hm. They do seem to fit you." Blade agreed.

"They would fly off when I'm airborne. It's not practical." Windlifter stated, bending down to put them back on the sunglasses rack.

"Hey, guys!" Dusty greeted, coming back with Dipper, and two RVs who they hadn't seen before.

"This is Winnie and Harvey. They're here on their wedding anniversary!" Dipper introduced the two RVs. 

Blade smiled cordially. "It's very nice to meet you two. I'm Blade Ranger, this is Nick Lopez, Maru, and Windlifter." 

"I heard from these two that you all protect the park from wildfires. We owe this place to you." Winnie said.

"Thank you. We're just doing our job." Blade replied. 

"They have a nice veranda outside that we could chat at. It's less cramped and noisy than in here." Nick suggested. 

"That sounds like a great idea!" Harvey agreed, so they made their way outside, into the cool night air.


	12. Hiding in the Mine

"Oh, sure, sure. I've been around the block a few times. I worked as a taco truck, sold car wash curtain rings for a while. Then, I got into RV tire sales. Winnie here was my showroom model." Harvey recounted to the group, as they were huddled around a fire pit with cans of oil.

"That's how we met." Winnie added.

"It's true." 

"Aw, nice." Dusty said.

"For our wedding day, bought her the best set of whitewalls." Harvey said while looking at Winnie.

"We wore off the treads on our honeymoon!" Winnie exclaimed.

"Yeah, oh-" Dusty cut off, creating an awkward silence. He and Maru looked horrified.

"Driving!" Winnie clarified.

"Oh, driving! Of course!" Maru pretended that they weren't thinking of anything else.

"She said 'driving.' Delete that thought." Dusty told Maru.

"Deleted!" Maru replied.

"You know, Dusty. Maybe this firefighting thing will be a second career for you." Harvey suggested.

"Oh, yeah. This is a second career for all of us. Windlifter was a lumberjack, Cabbie was in the military, and me, well, I hauled cargo up in Anchorage. Yeah, a lot of guys up in Anchorage. I was beating them off with a stick. 'Come here, boy. No.' Boom!" Dipper said, conveniently leaving Blade and Nick out.

It was a good thing, since Blade looked uncomfortable when Dipper mentioned second careers. 

"Firefighting's definitely rewarding. It's why all of us were drawn to it." Nick stated.

Blade nodded in agreement. "There's nothing like the feeling you get when you save lives." 

Harvey's attention turned to Windlifter, who hadn't said anything since they arrived at the fire pit. "Hey, big whirlybird, you haven't said much. How about a toast?"

"Uh, Windlifter's not really much for speeches." Dipper started to explain, until Windlifter took up Harvey's offer of a toast.

"A toast to Coyote. It was he who drove all day and all night to the base of Bright Mountain. With much difficulty, he climbed the mountain to obtain fire, and brought it down to the first vehicles. But in so doing, he burned his tires. And when Coyote saw his blackened tires, he thought they were his favorite snack, and he ate them! For he knew they were still full of life. And it was in this way, he let go of the old, and renewed himself like fire renews the earth." 

Everyone looked bewildered, except for Maru, who just went along with the toast and smiled. There was a period of silence as many tried to figure out what the story meant, before Dusty broke it. "Uh, I'm just gonna say it. You had me up until the part where he eats his own tires."

Maru just chuckled, holding up his can of oil. "Best toast ever, Wind. Cheers!" 

"Cheers!" Everyone clinked their oil cans together.

* * *

"So, did you have fun?" Nick asked Blade in their shared hangar, the next morning.

"Well, considering that I never saw Cad, met Harvey and Winnie, and heard Windlifter give an interesting toast, I'd say it wasn't the worst idea." Blade said with a slight smile.

"C'mon, just say that it was nice. Hanging out with the team by the fire pit was a nice break, right?" 

"True. It was." 

Nick was going to say something else, but the sound of a siren permeated the air. "All aircraft, we've got two fires. I repeat, two fires." Patch announced over the PA.

"Another day, another fire. Or fires, in this case. You gonna have Dusty go this time?" Nick asked.

"Yes. If we're dealing with two, we'll need every plane we've got." Blade was already outside the hangar, firing up his rotors. 

Nick followed suit, and they took off. They flew by Dusty's hangar, where the air racer was still inside with the doors open. "Champ, let's load and go." Blade told Dusty. 

Dusty gave a nod in response, turning around to get ready. He looked…solemn? 

Nick wondered if he was okay, but decided not to mention it. They saw two billowing pillars of smoke in the sky, from two separate fires. They learned from Patch that Cad's VIPs flew too low, and blew embers in all directions.

"The fire broke containment and split in two. Windlifter, you and Dipper take the Coil Springs fire. Me, Nick, and the SEAT will take Whitewall Rapids." Blade ordered.

"Windlifter copies." Windlifter replied, and they parted ways.

The entire mountainside was ablaze near Whitewall Rapids, and the lodge could be seen on the other side of the mountain. The fire would be there within a few hours, if the current rate of spread held. "Maru, come in." Blade radioed.

"Yeah, Blade?" The forklift replied.

"It's worse than we thought." 

"Yeah?"

"Get on the horn to the lodge. That fire is about four hours from their front door. They're gonna have to evacuate." Blade concluded.

"Knowing Cad, he's not going to do it." Nick told Blade, after he hung up with Maru.

"I know. That's why we have to save the lodge. Evacuation is a contingency plan." Blade replied. He looked over the scope of the wildfire, and narrowed his eyes. 

"If we're gonna save the lodge, we've gotta keep this fire from cresting the ridge. I'll drop, then you two tag on and extend. And make it a split load. That way, we can triple up and widen it downwind of the ridge so any change in wind won't affect the spread as much to keep it contained. Copy that?" 

"Copy that." Nick replied immediately, but Dusty didn't seem to be paying attention as there was no answer from him.

"Copy that? Hey!" Blade yelled in Dusty's direction.

Dusty was snapped back to reality by Blade. "Huh?" 

"You copy that?" Blade repeated, looking at Dusty sternly.

"Yeah. Yes. Copy that." Dusty replied.

Blade split off from Nick and Dusty when Dusty confirmed that he had heard him, and dropped a line of fire retardant in front of the fire, to stop it from spreading.

Dusty dropped fire retardant on the other side of the fire, but instead of splitting his load, he dropped the whole tank. 

"You gotta be kidding me. Was that your whole tank?" Blade asked, pulling up next to Dusty. 

"Yeah." Dusty replied.

"You just wasted all of it." 

"I was just following your orders." Dusty retorted.

"I said, 'Split load.' We were going to make a secondary line to protect that lodge." Blade corrected. "Nick, make that secondary line. Let's hope it counts." 

Nick nodded, flying off to try and protect the lodge by dropping half of his fire retardant on the side of the fire that hadn't been covered yet. When he was done, Blade and Dusty were flying away from him, towards the lake feeding Whitewall Rapids. He quickly tried to follow them before they got separated. "Blade? What's going on?" 

"Champ here wants to reload at the lake. The crosswinds are too strong; he'll crash." Blade replied. "These crosswinds are too strong. Return to base!" 

"This is what you trained me to do!" Dusty retorted, stubbornly approaching the lake.

"Not under these conditions." 

"If we're gonna get this fire out, I've gotta reload." 

"Pull up, that's an order!" Blade yelled. He was afraid of what would happen when the air racer touched the water. Nick was too, as he watched the air racer descend further.

"No. I can do this." Dusty hit the water, hard, and his propeller soon stalled as it chopped into the water. He tried to start his engine, but it failed. "I've taken in too much water. My engine stalled."

"Stalled?" Blade echoed. This situation was going from bad to worse, as Dusty approached Whitewall Rapids. "We'd better head downstream to keep him in sight." He told Nick.

Nick nodded in response. "You have a rescue plan?" 

"I'll think of one." Blade replied, and the two choppers headed downstream as Dusty entered the rapids. "Keep your pontoons downstream. I'll keep ahead of you."

"I'll get out on my own." Dusty asserted. Even though he was now floating in the rapids, he still wanted to do things his way.

"Really? How are you planning on doing that?" Blade scoffed. 

"I'll restart my engine." Dusty replied.

Blade deployed his hoist, figuring out a way to get Dusty out of the rapids. "Just hang on. I'm gonna pull you to shore." He swung his hoist toward Dusty, but missed, and Dusty fell down a short waterfall. 

"I'm going to fly in front of him, while you keep on trying to hoist him out." Nick told Blade.

Blade nodded, thinking that was a good idea. "Are you all right?" He asked Dusty.

"I'm okay." Dusty responded, trying again and again to restart his engine.

"There's too much coverage. Don't worry, I'll get you at the next clearing." Blade flew downstream, meeting up with Nick. 

"Right." Dusty replied. Blade tried again to grab Dusty with his hoist. It missed, and snagged a fallen tree, getting caught. 

"The hoist. It's caught." Blade stated, as he tried to free his hoist.

Dusty sputtered as water got into his mouth. "Blade! Nick!" 

"Come on…" Blade grunted, pulling at his hoist again. "You need to start your engine. You've got clear water. You can take off before the falls."

Dusty tried, but his engine wouldn't cooperate. 

Blade sighed. He couldn't take the gamble that Dusty's engine would start up in time. He needed to buy time to free his hoist. "Nick, go downstream and descend. Try and stop him from reaching the waterfall." 

Nick nodded, hovering above the rapids in front of Dusty. When Dusty reached him, he pushed against Dusty's fuselage with all his might. "Hang in there, Dusty…" 

Blade tugged, and managed to move his hoist by a little bit, but it was still trapped. 

Dusty tried to start his engine again, but this time, it worked! His propeller spun to life. "I got it! I'm good!" 

"Alright, he's gotta take off. Nick, pull back." 

"You don't want to try and free your hoist first?" Nick asked, concerned. It'd be safer if he tried to hold up against the force of the rapids, so Blade could hoist Dusty while he was stationary. It'd be easier that way. 

"I don't know how quickly I'm going to get my hoist free. Taking off is the best option." 

Nick nodded, ascending, letting Dusty travel down the rapids as his propeller spun.

"Now, redline it." Blade ordered.

Dusty traveled faster down the rapids, but he wasn't getting enough lift. 

"Push your engine! Redline it! You need more lift! Redline it! Redline it!" 

Dusty was nearing the giant waterfall drop off, and Nick was starting to think that staying put with him fighting against the rapids was the better option.

Blade seemed to realize the same thing, as he was becoming desperate. "Why are you holding back? Redline it!" He finally got his hoist free at the last moment.

Dusty failed to gain any lift, and his right pontoon struck a rock, sending him airborne. He was about to crash into the rapids below, when Blade's hoist wrapped around one of Dusty's pontoons.

Blade grunted as he managed to hoist Dusty to safety, setting him down on one of rapids' banks. "Why didn't you redline it? You could've made it! What were you thinking?" Blade admonished.

Nick, however, was more concerned with the growing wildfire. The wildfire was getting closer to them, as he hovered. 

"What? What's wrong?" Dusty asked, clueless.

"Blade. There's no way out." Nick said.

"Yes, there is. Head down that path. Follow me." Blade replied.

"Champ, come on! In here." Blade ordered, hovering next to an abandoned mine shaft.

Dusty looked incredulously at the abandoned mine shaft. "An old mine? We can't go in there. We'll suffocate!" 

While Dusty had a point, they had no other option. "It's our only chance. We'll let it burn over." Blade replied.

"No, you go on. I'll keep moving." Dusty asserted in defiance, turning around and heading in the opposite direction of the mine. 

"What are you doing? Hey. Hey!" Blade yelled.

Nick quickly landed in Dusty's path to stop him, as Blade did the same. "Dusty, you'll die out there." He told the air racer sternly. If he didn't listen to Blade's orders, he would die. No doubt about it. 

"You can't outrun the fire." Blade added.

"You know what? I'll find my way out." Dusty retorted, still heading towards the flames.

"Like you found your way out of the rapids." Blade pointed out.

"I didn't want to push my engine." Dusty tried to explain, which only made Blade more angry. 

"You didn't 'want' to?" 

"Blade, listen to me." 

"This isn't about you. This is about life and death. You need to follow orders. I told you, 'Split load,' you dropped it all. I told you not to reload on the lake, you did it anyway. I told you, 'Redline it,' you pulled power. You don't have what it takes! You don't!" 

Nick would have refuted that yesterday, but considering that they were in this mess because Dusty didn't follow orders, he knew that Blade was right. After this was over, Dusty would most likely be sent home, without a certification. 

"Fine! I never wanted to be a firefighter anyway!" Dusty said out of anger.

"Then go back to racing! Go win yourself another trophy, Champ." Blade retorted.

"I can't! My gearbox is busted! All right? That's why I pulled power. I'm never gonna…" Dusty trailed off, ashamed of himself that he got them here in the first place. 

Nick was silent as he took in what Dusty had said. He would've never thought that it was a mechanical problem. 

Blade's rotors stopped turning as he stared at Dusty, silently. The flames burned around them as he spoke. "Life doesn't always go the way you expect it. But you came here to become a firefighter. If you give up today, think of all the lives you won't save tomorrow. So, what are you going to do?" 

Dusty was silent, contemplating what Blade had just said. 

Nick made his way over to the mine entrance, clearing planks of plywood in their way. "Blade. It's now or never." 

Blade nodded in his direction, escorting Dusty to the entrance of the mine shaft. Dusty entered first, and Nick followed. 

Flames grew closer and closer, and rubble started to fall around the entrance. Multiple planks of plywood fell, sending flames their way. Blade quickly moved in the way of the flames, protecting the two. A sickening sizzling sound could be heard as Blade's paint bubbled and blistered from the extreme heat. 

"Blade!" Nick cried out in concern, but there was no response from Blade.

The rest of the entrance came tumbling down, sealing them inside and turning their world dark.


	13. Tears for Blade

It had been several minutes since they last heard the sound of vegetation burning outside, in the pitch darkness of the abandoned mine shaft. Nick and Dusty had no way of knowing how badly Blade was injured from the fire, and they’d only be able to tell when they emerged into the light outside. 

Blade had constantly told them that he was fine, but Nick knew better than to believe that. He was only probably trying to set the two at ease.

“The fire’s passed. I’m going to try and get us out of here.” Blade stated, ramming into the mine entrance with his fuselage. A little crack of light shone through. He pushed forward again. The crack widened. By the third push, the debris and rubble blocking their way broke into pieces, allowing them to escape into the charred forest.

Nick and Dusty coughed from the dust and dirt, rolling out of the abandoned mine shaft with Blade. They only realized the extent of the damage Blade had suffered when the Augusta Westland moved forward to survey where they could take off.

There was not even a hint of red in the spot where Blade’s fuselage had taken the brunt of the flames. The paint had charred into a dark black, juxtaposed with the white ash that covered the same area.

Nick was silent as he stared in horror. They’d have to get Blade to Maru when they got back. Stat.

“Blade…” Dusty said quietly.

Blade didn’t address his heavily burned side. “Airway Meadow should be clear. We'll take off from there. Let's go.” His voice was husky, from the inhaled smoke.

They made their way over to Airway Meadow, where Dusty took off. Blade started his rotors next and took off, but he was only a few feet off of the ground when his engine whined and seized. He tilted to the right, spinning counter clockwise before he slammed into the ground, lifeless. 

Nick's rotors stopped turning as he quickly made his way over to Blade. Blade's eyes were shut, and he didn't move. _No. Blade wasn't dead. He couldn't be._ He frantically told himself in his head. 

"Blade!" Dusty called out when he saw that Blade had crashed. No response. "Blade!" 

Nick's breath came out in ragged gasps as tried to keep himself calm. Panicking would do no good for the current situation. He knew that. "Dusty, contact Patch. Now!" 

Time was of the essence. Blade was not going to go the way of Red Streak. He wouldn't let it. He flashed back to when he crashed doing his signature loop on set, so many years ago. Except he was still conscious during the aftermath. 

"Patch, come in, this is Crophopper Seven. Patch, come in!" Dusty radioed frantically.

"I read you, Crophopper Seven." 

Dusty circled overhead to keep his visual of Blade and Nick on the ground. "Blade is down. I repeat, Blade is down!"

"I'll send Windlifter to respond. Stay at your location." 

"She's sending Windlifter." Dusty relayed over to Nick.

Nick didn't hear, as he stared at his best friend's lifeless form, resting on the charred forest floor. He found it harder to breathe, but it wasn't the residual smoke from the charred remains of the forest. It was that he might have to swallow the impending reality. Nothing could have trained him for this.

Dusty quickly landed to be by Nick's side in Airway Meadow. "Nick? Windlifter is coming. Blade will be alright." 

Of course, the air racer would tell him that Blade would be alright. That was the natural thing to say. But did it mean anything? Not to Nick at that moment. No matter how much he tried to hang on to hope, it was slipping away into the dark abyss. Darker than the mine shaft they were just in. "But do you know that Blade will be alright?" Nick replied, his voice quivering.

"I…" Dusty trailed off, unsure of what to say.

"I said, do you know that?" Nick repeated, not looking at Dusty.

"…No. I don't." Dusty admitted, looking solemn.

Nick didn't register the faint sound of rotors chopping through the air as Windlifter arrived. _Maru's the best there is._ Cabbie's voice echoed through his head. He hoped that applied in this situation.

He only backed away when Windlifter wrapped straps around Blade's burnt fuselage, stopping next to Dusty. Blade was slowly hoisted into the air by Windlifter, who flew quickly, but carefully, back to base. Nick and Dusty flew back to base, landing before Windlifter did, and watched somberly with the rest of the team as Windlifter slowly lowered Blade onto the helipad.

"Okay, that's good. Slow, slow. Good, good." 

Blade's landing gear touched the ground, as Windlifter set him gently on the helipad. "Careful! Good. We're good! Pinecone, get those straps off. Avalanche?" Maru ordered, working as quickly as he could to save Blade.

"Yes!" Avalanche replied. 

"Push the ramp alongside the access panel and be careful." 

"He'll be okay, right?" Dusty asked Cabbie.

"It's bad, but, Maru, he's the best there is. He'll make him better than new." Cabbie replied.

"I sure hope you're right." Nick replied, sighing. He was frustrated. He couldn't do anything to help. This must've been what Blade felt like when he crashed while doing his loop. 

Maru rolled up the ramp and let out a frustrated sigh when he opened Blade's access panel. "His hydraulics are completely fried. He's losing fluids. I gotta get him back to the garage, stat. Dynamite, tow hook!"

"Coming right up."

Maru shut Blade's access panel. "I'm gonna need hydraulic fluid from the shed." He told Drip.

"Copy that." 

"Blackout, we'll need another generator."

"I got it!" 

"Try the main hangar. And grab another heat lamp!"

"Yes, boss!" 

Dynamite towed Blade to the shed, as Nick and Dusty looked on.

"The surface burns are bad, but the interior damage is repairable. As long as we move quick, we got a good chance." Maru said to himself, heading to his hangar, where Dynamite released Blade from the tow hook. 

Nick quickly followed, while Dusty watched from outside, feeling guilty. "Maru, is there anything I can do to help?" 

"No, I have all the hydraulic fluid I need at the moment." Maru replied, opening Blade's access panel again to work.

"Another heat lamp?" 

"No." 

"Another generator?" 

Maru sighed. "Look, Nick. I know you're really close to Blade, but if there's anything that you can do to help, I'll let you know."

"…I understand." Nick replied, turning around. He knew that would be the forklift's answer. "Maru's the best there is," he would tell himself. Over and over again. He rolled back towards the hangar he and Blade shared, and his mind couldn't help but bring it up. Would it be their hangar when it was all over, or would it be his?

He couldn't take it, and he sped up to enter the hangar, shutting the doors with one of his skids before he broke down. The tears that he had been holding in this whole time broke through, failing to hold them back any more. He had no one to comfort him. He was alone, to deal with the emotions that were surfacing. 

Dusty didn't know what to do when Nick drove past him with a pained expression. His previous efforts to make Nick feel better had failed when they were on the ground at Airway Meadow; what made him think that this would go any better? He wanted to help Nick, though. He knew that he and Blade were close. This probably hurt the most for Nick. 

Before he knew it, his landing gear was taking him to Blade and Nick's hangar. He resolved that he'd try and help Nick in whatever way that he could, even if it was just being there. If Nick didn't want to see him, understandably, he'd leave too. The whole reason why they had to hide in the mine shaft was because of him. He knew. He just hoped that whatever he did would help him atone for that.

Tear drops rolled down Nick's fuselage, and hit the floor below. Drop, after drop, after drop. He gasped for air between sobs when he could. A knock at the doors startled him. Who would be here?

"Nick?" Dusty's voice came from the other side.

"L-Leave me alone…" Nick whimpered.

Dusty sighed. Well, he did decide that he'd leave if Nick didn't want to see him. It made him feel even worse about himself. "Alright." He replied solemnly, turning around.

Nick opened a crack in the hangar doors, and saw Dusty turning around to leave. He thought back to his pain of having no one to comfort him, and here Dusty was. "Wait."

Dusty stopped in his tracks, turning around. 

Nick opened the hangar doors further before backing away onto his sleeping mat, sniffling. 

Dusty took that as meaning Nick had changed his mind, and he slowly entered the hangar, shutting the door. 

Nick found some composure so that he could speak, still sniffling as the last of the tears fell. He had no more tears left to cry. "Why did you not follow any of Blade's orders?"

"Because of my gearbox. I learned from Propwash that no one had my gearbox, and…" Dusty trailed off as he tried to find the right words. "I wanted to prove myself. That I could do everything on my own. That I wasn't hindered by a warning light."

Nick scowled. It was all about Dusty, wasn’t it? No consideration towards the consequences that would occur. "Well, you failed miserably at that! Blade was right. You don't have what it takes. We're supposed to work as a team, and you threw it away." 

"You think I don't know that?" Dusty said, his voice shaking. "I crashed into the Fill N' Fly back home during a defiant flight because I just couldn't take the news that I wouldn't be able to race again. I started a fire that we had to topple a water tower to put out, which ended in Propwash being shut down! I came here to try and get certified to reopen Propwash, but wherever I go I just seem to make things worse." He whimpered as he let the tears fall. He was a failure.

Nick’s scowl disappeared, as he immediately regretted what he had said. Dusty had been holding it in, just like he had. "Dusty, I…" He sighed. "I didn't mean that. I'm sorry." 

Dusty gave no reply as he weeped. He was probably going to be sent back to Propwash, and he'd have to break it to Mayday and the others that he never got certified. 

Nick comforted Dusty the only way he knew how. He hugged the air racer gently with his skids. 

Dusty leaned into the hug, sniffling as he slowly calmed down. "I-I'm sorry for what happened at Whitewall Rapids and Airway Meadow."

"I forgive you. Do you forgive me?" Nick asked, releasing Dusty from the embrace.

"I forgive you too, Nick." Dusty said. 

They hugged again. They'd share each other's emotional pain, and make it through the rain.


	14. Augerin Canyon

Maru shut the doors to the hangar as night fell, and he looked at Nick and Dusty solemnly. They had helped the forklift when he asked for it later on; now that he was done, all they could do was let Blade rest. The prognosis was good, but Blade was still asleep. They’d only know when he woke up. 

“Thank you for the help, you two.” The forklift thanked, heading down the hill from the hangar.

“Of course.” Dusty replied. 

Nick sighed. Even though he had helped in providing the materials Maru needed to fix Blade, he still felt that nagging sense of helplessness.

Nick's solemn countenance didn't go unnoticed by Maru and Dusty. "Nick? I told you Blade is just resting, right? He needs to regain his strength after losing that much hydraulic fluid." Maru told Nick.

"Right. I understand. Thank you." Nick replied. He was fooling nobody, however. Anyone could read him like a book, and see that he wasn't feeling any better.

Maru wanted to do more to help the despondent helicopter, but he couldn't think of anything else. "It's late. We'd better head back to our hangars to rest." 

Nick and Dusty nodded in agreement, as they parted ways.

* * *

"Listen up, y'all, we got big trouble. Wildfire jumped the main exit road and now it's blocked." Patch warned over the PA.

The siren sounded through the Air Attack Base, bringing everyone together to get ready. 

"I know it's after sunset, but you're in command. It's your call." Dipper told Windlifter.

"There's not much time. If you're gonna go, you better go now." Maru advised.

"And we'll need every plane we've got." Dusty added.

"We have to clear the exit road. No one can evacuate, otherwise." Nick pointed out.

Windlifter was silent for a bit before he spoke, making his decision. "Load up."

Everyone quickly dispersed to get ready to fight the fire. The Smokejumpers loaded into Cabbie, and Maru hooked up the hoses to fill tanks. "We'll have you out of here in 60…" The forklift trailed off, as he pushed on a lever to fill Dipper's tank with fire retardant, and nothing happened. 

Maru made his way over to the main water line, and saw that there was no water pressure. "Problem! There's no water pressure!" 

"Main line must have burst again." Cabbie surmised.

"Hey Patch, what's the lake look like?" Dipper asked.

"Negative. No visibility. Boxed in by fire and smoke." Patch replied. The situation was going from bad to worse.

"All we have left is what's in our tanks. Let's make it count." Windlifter took off, as Maru disconnected all of the hoses so the team could fly off.

The bright orange flames starkly contrasted the night sky, which could barely be seen through the thick smoke. Nick hadn't seen a wildfire like this throughout his entire time at Piston Peak, and he was sure that it probably applied for everyone else. Deer tractors could be seen below as they ran away from the inferno.

"We're headed straight into the fire. Aren't we gonna fly around it?" Dusty asked, worried.

"The fastest way to the main road is through the fire." Dipper replied.

"Brace yourselves." Windlifter warned, as they entered the giant plume of smoke.

The visibility immediately dropped to zero when they entered the smoke plume, and Nick had to rely on Windlifter's lights to navigate. He could hear Dipper telling Dusty to hold on, but it sounded far away, probably because of the thick smoke. 

He coughed out ash when they exited the smoke plume, and headed towards the main road. Only then did he and the others realize how severe the wildfire actually was. Virtually the entire park was on fire. He had no time to think about it, though. Clearing the main road and allowing the evacuation to continue was the priority.

They flew over the Grand Fusel Lodge, and Nick knew something was wrong when he saw the roof sprinklers dousing the roof. If the main line broke, the lodge sprinklers wouldn't be working. He'd bring it up, once they were finished at the task at hand. 

The team finally arrived at the main road, where Windlifter dropped the remainder of his fire retardant on the burning main entrance, extinguishing it. Dipper dropped her fire retardant along the side of the main road, to keep the fire from spreading onto the main road.

Dusty dropped his fire retardant on the burning debris blocking the train's way, while Nick dropped his fire retardant further down, past the main entrance, to ensure that the fire would not block the way.

The Smokejumpers parachuted from Cabbie, and immediately got to work clearing debris from the main entrance. "Let's clear this road." Dynamite ordered. They cleared it quickly, and supervised the evacuation on the ground.

They were flying back to base when Patch radioed in. "Windlifter, do you copy?"

"Go ahead, Patch." 

"We've got two old RVs trapped in Augerin Canyon." Patch reported.

Everyone knew who Patch was referring to. Harvey and Winnie.

"Two old RVs? Oh, no…" Dusty flew up next to Windlifter. "It's Harvey and Winnie. We met them earlier. They're looking for the place they had their first kiss." He stammered.

"Augerin Canyon. That's at the other end of the park." Windlifter warned.

"I can get there the fastest."

"The canyon will be engulfed in flames and you have no retardant."

"I'll scoop off the river. There's a clear stretch of water." Dusty explained. 

Windlifter was silent, as he considered if he should let Dusty go.

"Windlifter. I can do it." Dusty asserted.

"…Go. And be safe." 

Dusty shot off towards the canyon, and Nick had a feeling of dread. Dusty would be by himself out there, and he hadn't scooped water successfully yet. If he fell into the river again, Blade wouldn't be there to hoist him out. He had to go. "Windlifter. I'll accompany him, and see what I can do." 

"Go." 

Nick quickly moved to follow Dusty to Augerin Canyon. "Dusty." 

"Nick? What are you doing?" 

"Doing what I can to help. You wanted to scoop water off of the river?" Nick asked.

"I know I've failed doing it before, but I know I can do it this time. Please, Nick." 

Nick knew that this was genuine. Before, at Whitewall Rapids, Dusty wanted to scoop water to prove himself. In this case, there was no other choice if they wanted to save Harvey and Winnie. "I trust you."

Dusty nodded, thankful, as he and Nick maneuvered through the trees, and dove down towards the bridge, where Harvey and Winnie were calling for help. "I'm going to stay here to monitor the bridge. It might collapse at any moment from the structural damage due to the fire. You scoop the water from the river." 

"Copy that." Dusty replied, circling around to fly parallel to the river. He'd turn around and try to scoop from the straight stretch of the river afterwards.

Nick flew down and hovered to reassure Harvey and Winnie. "Dusty's scooping water from the river. Just hang on and-" He cut off as one of the supports broke, swinging up and severing the connection on the left side of the RVs. They only had one way out, now.

"Winnie, hang on!" Harvey yelled. 

They made their way to a small overlook built into the bridge, as it bent dangerously towards the river below. Nick quickly moved to wedge himself under the bridge, angling upwards, and pushing with all of his might to keep it supported, buying Dusty time. 

"Harvey, Harvey, don't let go!" Winnie cried out.

"Hold on, it'll be okay." Harvey tried to reassure, even as the situation was dire.

The sound of rotors chopping through the air was heard, and it wasn't Nick's. Blade became visible as he flew through the smoke. Nick was in shock. Blade had woken up. He was alive. He grabbed Winnie with his hoist, as Nick continued trying to support the remaining part of the bridge. 

Dusty flew under the bridge, and pitched up sharply, flying straight up while scooping water from the waterfall. He flew up the whole length of the waterfall, before doing a flip and freefalling towards the ground, pulling up and dropping water along the whole length of the bridge, extinguishing it. Blade managed to pull Harvey and Winnie back onto the bridge, and they made their escape just as the entirety of the bridge collapsed into the river below.

"Dusty." Blade called out, using the air racer's real name. "Good move, partner." 

Nick looked at Blade in shock. He hadn't heard that since the end of CHoPs, so many years ago. However, the sound of screeching metal brought his attention back to Dusty. Thick, black smoke was coming from his propeller, and he spiralled out of control into the forest below, until he was no longer in sight. 

Nick immediately knew that Dusty's gearbox had failed from the stress put on his engine from flying vertically. He and Blade flew over to where they saw Dusty last, and discovered the air racer's badly dented and unconscious frame below. 

"Radio Patch. I'll assess the damage below." Blade ordered Nick.

Nick nodded. "Patch, come in! This is Nick Lopez!" He said with urgency.

"I read you, Nick Lopez." 

"Crophopper Seven is down. Blade is on the ground, assessing how bad the damage is." 

"Copy that. Stay at your location. Sending Windlifter." 

"We're near Augerin Canyon." Nick relayed as he landed. 

"His left pontoon is gone, his propeller is destroyed, and his wing ribs are damaged. He doesn't seem to be leaking hydraulics, though." Blade told Nick.

"So, is it bad?" Nick asked.

"That's Maru's call when we get him back to base." 

Nick was worried, but he could get a clear picture of how bad it was when they had Maru. "When did you wake up?" 

"When the team arrived back. I asked where Dusty was, and Maru told me. I convinced him to let me go help." 

"How are we going to deal with the fire?" 

"The smoke is thick enough that it's suffocating the majority of the fire now. Also, the moisture from the sprinklers at the lodge is helping. We've managed to reroute the water line back to the base. The rest of the team is on it."

"I knew the main line didn't burst." Nick muttered.

"Cad's doing, I know. We'll see what happens once the evacuation is finished." 

Windlifter soon arrived, and it was a delicate affair, trying to hoist Dusty off of the ground in his fragile state. The exterior damage was extensive, and any sudden movements could make it worse. By the time they had figured out a way to get Dusty back to base, daybreak had begun. 

"Steady, steady…good! We're good!" Maru directed, as Windlifter lowered Dusty. "Do we have the other pontoon?" 

Blade dropped the pontoon he was carrying with his hoist before landing. "Yes. It's here." 

"Great. It's salvageable. Pinecone, get those straps off. Dynamite, tow hook. No hydraulic leak. Great." Maru said to himself, as Dusty was towed into the hangar by Dynamite. 

Blade and Nick asked if Maru needed any help, but the answer was, of course, "No, but you'll be the first to know." They sat in their hangar in silence, solemn. 

Nick broke the silence. "I can't help but worry about whether Dusty will be alright." 

Blade sighed. "Me too, Nick. However, Maru said that Dusty had minimal interior damage. That's a good sign." 

"I know. Just…" Nick sniffled. "You just came back. I can't lose him." 

Blade hugged Nick before he could cry. "You won't. We won't." 

Nick hugged Blade back. "I was really afraid that you were gone when you were asleep. Guess I now know how you felt when I had my accident." 

Blade released Nick from the hug. "I wouldn't wish it on anybody. The word 'dread' doesn't even describe it." 

"Not even close." Nick agreed. He was silent for a while before he decided to bring it up. "You haven't said what you said back there in forever." 

"What?" Blade asked, unsure as to what Nick meant. 

"Good move, partner. Last time I heard it was the last episode of CHoPs." Nick explained.

"Oh, yeah. That." 

"You must've been real proud of Dusty at that moment. I was too." 

"I was. It's funny. I've always hated it when people see me as Blazin' Blade Ranger, yet I brought back that catchphrase, which I haven't said in forever." 

"Maybe you're ready to accept that part of our lives. Use it as a stepping stone. 'Sure, I was a cheesy helicopter cop along with my friend here, but now we save lives for real.'" Nick suggested.

"You thought it was cheesy?" 

"It kind of was, now that I think about it. Literally every episode ended with you saying 'Good move, partner.'" 

"Well, it was our cheesy TV show, wasn't it?" 

Nick smiled. "It was, Blade. It was."


	15. The Corn Fest

Over the next five days, Maru worked tirelessly to fix Dusty, Dipper only leaving his hangar to sleep. Blade and Nick dropped by the hangar every day to check on Dusty, and he seemed on the mend. It didn't help that he was still asleep, however.

The good news, however, was that Cad Spinner was Park Superintendent no more, after it was confirmed that he redirected the main water line to his lodge. The Secretary of the Interior, before leaving, appointed Ol' Jammer as the new Park Superintendent, repositioning Cad Spinner at Death Valley National Park. 

Maru suddenly brought everyone together for an announcement, on the morning of the fifth day. 

"What's the news, Maru?" Blade asked.

"I've replaced everything that was damaged. The prop, the wing ribs, and the pontoons. But get this." Maru beamed with excitement. "I made a new gearbox for him!" 

Everyone was shocked at the news, and overjoyed. "You made him a new gearbox?" Nick echoed. 

"No, it's better than new!" Maru replied, chuckling. 

"Dusty will be overjoyed to hear the news! But he's still asleep." Dipper pointed out, disheartened by that fact.

"He will wake up. Today." Windlifter predicted.

"Well, if Wind says so, I ain't arguing! I was thinkin' the same thing too." Maru agreed. 

"You let us know first thing when he wakes up, alright?" Blade told Maru.

"For sure." 

The group dispersed, and Blade and Nick happily made their way back to their hangar. "Wow. A new gearbox! Now Dusty can push his engine again." Nick said.

Blade opened the hangar doors, smiling. "I'm happy for him. You know, what he did back there at Augerin Canyon takes a special kind of plane. He scooped water from a waterfall. I didn't even train him to do that." 

"Yeah, I was surprised when he did it too. He saved Harvey and Winnie's lives."

"You know, I think he's ready to be certified."

Nick looked at Blade, wide-eyed. "You're going to certify him?" 

Blade nodded. "He's more than earned it." 

Nick chuckled. "You know, from all the good news he's going to get when he wakes up, he might pass out again. No more Cad, a new gearbox, getting certified…"

"He deserves all the good news after what he's been through."

"Definitely." 

A few hours later, Dusty stirred, groaning as he slowly opened his eyes. Maru quickly went up the ramp, to check if what he had heard was really Dusty. Sure enough, Dusty saw Maru when his vision cleared. "Maru?" He mumbled.

Dipper perked up when she realized that Dusty was awake, as Maru chuckled. "Hello there. Ha ha! He's awake! I'm a genius." 

Blade and Nick quickly headed to Maru's hangar when they heard the forklift yell "He's awake!" They pulled up along with Windlifter. 

"Morning, mud dropper." Blade greeted, smiling.

"How long have I been out?" Dusty asked, still groggy. He had slept for five days, after all.

"Five days. Dipper stayed by your side the whole time." Blade told Dusty.

Dipper rolled up right to Dusty's side. "I like watching you sleep." She whispered, which immediately woke Dusty up fully.

Cabbie and the Smokejumpers then rolled up. "He's alive!" Drip yelled.

"Looking good, Dusty." Cabbie said.

Then, Patch came on the PA. "All aircraft, the superintendent has entered the base. The superintendent has entered the base."

Ol' Jammer, Pulaski, Rake, and Andre arrived. "Well, you had us worried, Dusty. Glad to see you're out and about." Ol' Jammer greeted.

"You're the superinten-What happened to Cad?" Dusty asked.

Pulaski chuckled. "Sprinkler saved the lodge, but not his job. Secretary of the Interior did the right thing. Put Ranger Jammer, here, in charge." He explained.

"Yay!" Avalanche yelled.

"Maru. Did you…tell him?" Windlifter asked.

Maru stopped what he was doing and hesitated. "Uh…"

"Tell me what?" Dusty asked.

"I replaced your prop. Repaired the damaged wing ribs. Hammered out what damage I could. Even got your pontoons back on." Maru chuckled as he hit one of the pontoons lightly with one of his forklift arms. "But your gearbox…"

Dusty had a look of resignation on his face. "I know. Thanks for trying, Maru."

"You're welcome!" Maru said, grinning. 

"What?" Dusty was confused. You're welcome? Did that mean…

"Because you're fixed!" Maru revealed.

"Wait. Really?" Dusty couldn't believe it. His friends back in Propwash said no one had his gearbox. How could this happen?

"Yeah, that was the hardest thing I've ever done. You've got yourself a custom-made epicyclic, concentric reduction gearbox!" 

Dusty beamed. "A new gearbox?"

"No, it's better than new!" 

Blade spoke up, bringing even more good news. "Crophopper, I'd say you've earned that certification."

Everyone cheered in celebration. "How's it feel to officially be a firefighter, Dusty?" Nick asked.

"Amazing. I…I can't believe it." 

"I'm proud to call you an official member of Piston Peak Air Attack." Blade said.

"And since you're one of us, you gotta look like it! A new paint job is in order!" Maru gestured at Dusty's tattered racing paint job; one could see where paint was scraped off from the impact with the trees. 

"Wait, what?" Dusty asked.

"Come on! You'll love it!" Maru asserted.

Nick chuckled. "We'll leave you to it." He said, as the group dispersed.

* * *

Maru reversed away from Dusty after he did the last finishing touches. "I'm done! Take a look." 

Dusty rolled up to a mirror in Maru's hangar, and was stunned. "Wow, Maru! It looks great!"

Maru kept the orange color scheme Dusty had, except that it was a darker shade of orange, almost a burnt orange. The Piston Peak Air Attack seal adorned his sides, and stripes of black contrasted with white. His racing number was still on his tail, in bold white font. His pontoons shared the same color scheme of orange, white, and black. 

"Thanks! I tried to keep the orange thing you had going on. Burnt orange was all we had, but I made it work."

"I like it." 

"Looking good, Dusty!" Nick complimented, as the rest of the team pulled up. 

"Thanks. Hey, since I'm heading back to Propwash tomorrow, I was wondering if you all would want to come along. We're holding our annual Corn Festival, and it'd be an honor if you all would perform there for this year's aerial presentation." 

Everyone turned to look at Blade, since he called the shots. "Well, it's now off fire season, and Propwash isn't _that_ far away." He smiled. "Sure. We'd be honored to perform there. We'll also get to see Propwash getting reopened, right?" 

Dusty nodded. "Yep! Thanks to you, of course." 

"No, thanks to you, with your hard work and dedication." 

"Besides, we'll get to see Mayday, too." Nick pointed out.

"How do you and Blade know him, anyway? He said you two were old friends." Dusty recounted.

"He was our instructor who certified us as firefighters." Blade explained. 

Dusty was surprised. He only knew Mayday as their resident firefighter. "Wow. I didn't know he trained you both." 

"Yep! Best instructor a plane could have." Nick said.

Dusty smiled. "I'm sure that he'll be happy to see you two."

Everyone dispersed soon after that, looking forward to visiting Propwash Junction tomorrow.

* * *

The team arrived at Propwash Junction the next morning to a lot of fanfare, as the residents of the town swarmed the runway. Dusty reunited happily with Skipper, Sparky, Chug, Dottie, and Mayday, as the team looked on, smiling. 

Mayday went over to Blade and Nick when he was done talking with Dusty, congratulating him on getting certified. "Thank you for certifying Dusty, Blade." 

"He deserved it, after all of his hard work. He even took water from a waterfall." Blade replied.

"You haven't changed at all, Mayday." Nick complimented. It had been a while since they had seen each other in person.

Mayday chuckled. "That may go more for you and Blade, Nick. Dottie's fixed me up with all of the new things you kids are using nowadays. A new siren, water tank, and hose."

"That's great. Dusty told me that was one of the requirements the TMST gave for reopening of Propwash." Blade said.

"Yes, we actually told them that you had gotten certified, so they're coming later today to reopen Propwash." 

Nick grinned, excited for that moment. "That's great! We'll get to be there for the moment Dusty's been training to get certified for." 

A few hours later, Ryker and his assistant arrived, and Ryker started speaking. "In accordance with CFR title 14, volume three, chapter one, section 139, sub-paragraph B, Propwash Junction is recertified and open for operation." 

Everyone cheered in celebration, until Chug and Sparky came back from somewhere, obviously very excited. "Hey Dusty, I won, I won! Duster, guess what. I've been crowned official Corn Colonel." Chug said, proudly wearing his Corn Colonel hat. 

"And I'm his Private Niblet." Sparky added.

"Can I wear my official hat to your race next Saturday?" Chug asked, wanting to show off his hat wherever he went. 

"Absolutely, Chug. As long as the boss, here, will give me the day off." Dusty said, looking at Mayday.

"Anytime." Mayday replied.

"Okay, Niblet, time to hit the festival!" Chug told Sparky, as they left to prepare.

"Sir, yes sir!" Sparky saluted, before following Chug. The team dispersed to get ready for their performance. 

"You know, I'll never get what it is about this town and corn." Nick whispered to Blade.

Blade chuckled in response. "Me neither. Let's just get ready to put on the best show ever." 

"You got it."

* * *

"Ladies and gentleplanes, turn your attention to the skies for today's featured aerial presentation. The Propwash Junction Corn Fest is proud to present the Piston Peak Air Attack team, and our very own world champion racer and firefighter, Dusty Crophopper!" Chug announced, doing his job as Corn Colonel.

The Smokejumpers jumped out of Cabbie, parachuting to the ground, as Blade, Nick, Dipper, Windlifter, and Dusty approached the airstrip for the performance. Dipper dropped water first on the tarmac, then Blade dropped water very close to the audience, Windlifter doing so in the opposite direction. 

The Smokejumpers released from their parachutes onto ramps, jumping into the air and landing on ramps placed further down the tarmac. Nick did his signature loop in the sky while releasing water, wowing the audience as he smirked. Oh, how it felt good to do that again, after so long.

Dusty, however, followed up by doing an even bigger loop in the sky, showing off his new gearbox, which could handle the redlining it took to do the loop. 

Nick watched, mouth agape, as Blade chuckled beside him, midair. "Someone jealous?" 

Nick huffed. "Well, I did it first…"

Blade smirked at Nick knowingly. "Right. Let's finish the performance, Nick." He said, as they followed Dusty once he finished the loop.


End file.
